


Dreamwalking in Lavender Fields

by Sofyzin



Category: Video Blogging RPF, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Other Ships To Be Added, Skephalo, Soulmates, broken glass, dreamnotfound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25790362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sofyzin/pseuds/Sofyzin
Summary: It's funny... soulmates are supposed to be your one true love. Maybe it's not his fault. He did not know then.A joke taken to far, a troll that should have been done in the first place... it's all enough to lead to a broken heart.But is it fixable?
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Zak Ahmed/Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 192
Kudos: 692





	1. Chapter 1

Everyone in the world has a soulmate. It’s an unbreakable connection that is said to survive any challenge. The only catch is that there were different types of connections: red string, first words, flying sparks, heartbeats, eye colour... and so on. However, whatever the circumstance, Fate would always lead you to your other half. 

That’s what Darryl was always told at least. His parent's connection was through thoughts. They could communicate with each other by just thinking and Darryl had always thought that was incredible. He would dream for hours about meeting his soulmate, but his connection was unclear. He didn’t have a red string or a phrase on his wrist, he didn’t seem to have anything. The only thing different about him from the rest of the society was that he never remembered his dreams. But how would that help his situation? His parents said not to worry and just wait, fate had something in mind for him. And they were right...

It didn't happen right away. After he met Skeppy, that is. They became friends, then best friends, then A6d joined and the trio was formed and then.... he saw him. And he remembered.

He was a dreamwalker. Now, dreamwalking was a rare type of connection, where you dream about or with your soulmate. It’s usually lucid dreams, but sometimes when the soulmate wants to be left alone, you just dream of them. The only catch was... you don't remember the dreams until you fall in love with them. 

The first time he saw Zak in his dreams was amazing and terrifying at the same time. It was after they won Minecraft Monday and he said he loved Skeppy and could kiss him... he went to sleep with that thought in his mind. He opened his eyes in the dreamscape. He was in a field filled with lavender flowers and he could see the sea ahead of him. This place reminded him of a place in France Vincent told them about, he really wanted to go here in the future with the Trio... he turned around and saw Zak catching up to him, and extended his hand to him, smiling softly at the smaller one.

“Zak! Come on!” He blushed when Zak's fingertips slid across his palm and their hands closed. Darryl pulled him close putting his free hand on his waist.

“You said something about wanting to kiss me?” Zak’s lips were curled in a mischievous smile and his eyes were sparkling and...

“I did, didn’t I?” He smiled back, feeling Zak’s free hand cup his cheek in a romantic gesture and leaned in connecting their lips. This was a feeling he could get used to. The feeling of Zak’s warm lips against his, their hands connected and pressing him as close as he could. It felt electrifying and so, so right.

And then he woke up. He remembered everything. Every single detail. The scent of lavender and the sea in the air, his hands wrapped around Zak, and Zak’s gorgeous dark eyes.

And suddenly he couldn’t breathe. Zak was his soulmate. Skeppy. His best friend. Was his soulmate. He gasped trying to get air in his lungs. He was in love with Zak. He was in love with Zak. He was in love.... how did that even happen?! 

Of course, sure, Zak was adorable and cute and he had bright eyes and the biggest smile and gorgeous eyebrows and he was funny and charming and precious and... oh. Oh. 

He finally reached for his phone and scrolled through his contacts not knowing what to do. He had to talk to someone about this. But who? Vincent was asleep, it was late. He definitely was not calling Zak. He didn’t even realise what he was doing until Dream’s sleepy voice called his name.

“Bad? It’s 5 am. Why are you even awake?”

“Dream? Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t notice I-“ he felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Why was he crying? What's going on? Everything should be fine. This should not be happening! “I’m sorry, I woke you up. I’ll just hang up now and you go back to sle-“ he was spiralling. This was not good.

“Hey, hey, hey... Darryl.” He heard shuffling on the other side, Clay probably sat up. “It’s okay, don’t worry. Can you do me a favor? You're going to do your breathing technique. I’ll count for you, alright, bud?” Darryl let out a quiet chuckle and a sob. This was his technique which he used on Clay when he was having a panic attack over his first breakup. 

He let out a breathless “Yes” and then Dream started counting. Breath in for four. Hold for four. Breathe out for 4. Repeat. After 15 minutes of nothing but Clay counting and Darryl breathing, the latter finally stopped to hyperventilate and all that was left of his panic attack were small hiccups.

“Now, what happened, Dar? Are you okay? Do you want me to come over?” Clay was genuinely worried. Bad rarely panicked, he usually was the one calming the other down.

“I... I’m not sure. You know how I am a dreamwalker?” 

“Yeah? You walk all over me, baby” Clay tried to joke to lighten Darryl’s mood. To his delight, Bad giggled quietly, even though he was still sniffling softly.

“Only in manhunts, Dream...” he even joked back. Good. “What I was saying is... I... I know who my soulmate is. I dreamed of them... him. Dreamed of him today and I remember and...”

“Isn’t that great though? Or was it someone you don’t want to be soulmates with...?” Dream was frankly confused. Finding your soulmate was not something to panic about. 

“No, no! I love him and I want to be with him but-“ he choked, his breathing speeding up again. “I don’t think he- don’t think he loves me back...”

“Oh? Is it someone we know? Have you talked to him yet?” 

“Clay. It’s Zak.” Darryl took a deep breath, trying to calm down again. 

“Oh. Oh shit. Is Skephalo going to be real?!” 

“Dream! I can’t- he doesn’t even know and what if...” his eyes filled with tears again. “What if he doesn’t want me?” 

“Dar. Give it time. And you can ask him if he ever remembers his dreams. Or his soulmate type. I assure you, he will want you... and if he doesn’t, I will personally break his legs.”

“Let’s not go that far, Clay... but thank you. I appreciate that you care.” He sighed and hummed quietly. “I will ask, when I have the chance... you should sleep.” 

“What about you?” 

“I don’t think I can go back in there right now... I need time to process this. Goodnight. And thank you.” He felt better, still scared but better. He could live with this...

“Always, Dar. Goodnight.” Clay waited for Darryl to hang up and layed back down. He was happy for Darryl, and also a little jealous. He did not know who his soulmate was and he was tired of living in a colourless world. But it was going to be worth the wait in the end. 

——————————————————————————

Darryl went on as usual. Although the next day he had to cancel all of his recordings and move them up because the crying made him extremely tired. 

But the days went on, as did the dreams and he had finally got to talk to his friends about it. They were streaming or recording... just chilling.

“Geppy? Random question. Do you ever remember your dreams?” He was worried, he was so worried. 

“Uh... I never thought about it to be honest. But now that I am, never. Dude, I haven't remembered a single dream from my whole life, what the hell?” 

“Interesting...” Vincent mumbled, “I remember some of my dreams. Why did you ask, Bad?” He waited for a response from Bad but got only silence. “....Darryl?”

“Ah! Yes! Language!” Darryl did not know if he should feel relieved or upset. He couldn’t help to be upset. Zak did not remember. Which meant he was not in love with him... “Oh, um... it’s nothing. Just curious.” 

“You sure? Do you remember yours?” Zak chimed in suspiciously.

“Some.” Darryl decided not to tell them yet. He wanted Zak to remember his dreams first and then they could be happy forever. “Hey, Vince, how’s your soulmate doing? Still drawing?”

“Mhmm... I drew a shit picture of Ian back to them. It sucks that I’m not the kind that can write to them though. We tried but it just looks like smudges.” Both Zak and Vincent realises that Darryl changed the topic on purpose but surprisingly decided not to press. “What about your soulmates, guys? Do you know who they are or...?”

“I know what my type is and I have a slight idea who my soulmate might be...” he just could not say it yet. No way. “But I’m not telling you cause I don’t want to jinx it!” Wow. Amazing excuse. 

“Jinx it? Really, Bad? Okaaay.... I don’t even know my connection type!” Zak laughed leaning back on his chair. During these private calls all of them had their facecam on. It felt more intimate in a way. 

“Really, Geppy? You don’t know?”

“Nope! I have no marks, no voices in my head, my eyesight is fine and I don’t have a necklace or anything... maybe it would be like... sparks fly when you first meet or something? Oooh, by the way! You know what I found out?”

“What?” Vincent was currently cuddling Ian, smiling at the cat. 

“Zelk’s mark is a line of morse code. So he learned morse code just to know what his soulmate will say to him!”

“Oooh, that’s so cool!” Darryl was watching Zak, he was so cute, it was unbearable. In a way he couldn’t wait to fall asleep so they could cuddle again... even if Zak didn't know yet. “What does it say?”

“He was laughing a lot when he found it and he can’t speak about it without laughing but he is not telling me. So no idea.”

“Aww, saaad... well we'll find out eventually. And Geppy! You should really find out your type!”

Zak leaned into the microphone and whispered: “You are my type, Bad.”

“Geppy, nooo! Don’t say stuff like that!” Darryl hid his face in his hands pretending to be embarrassed. But in reality it hurt, because he knew Skeppy was joking. 

But Zak was laughing happily at his reaction. And Zak’s smile was worth the pain. 

—-————————————————————————-

He didn’t mean to tell Vincent anything. One minute they were discussing the Talk Show, the other they were just comfortable in a rare silence and the next second Darryl just blurted out: 

“Zak’s my soulmate.” He froze up and covered his mouth with his hand, trying to find the hang up button on TS at the same time. 

“...what?” Vincent’s head snapped up and he sensed Darryl’s distress. “Zak is... your soulmate? Hey, no, don’t leave! Darryl it’s okay... just explain. How do you know?”

Darryl stayed silent for a while and then sighed deeply. “I’m, well technically Zak too, a dreamwalker. I started remembering the dreams after we won this past Minecraft Monday...”

“Oh, um... that’s great! Wait so... he doesn’t- he doesn’t know or remember?” Vincent suddenly realised that Skephalo was going to be canon, but then rememebered that Zak didn't love Darryl back... yet.

“Nope. That’s okay though. I’ll wait for him. As long as it takes.” He heard Vincent try to muddle a happy sob. “You crying, Xem?”

“No. I am not!... it’s just... you're so patient... and Skephalo is canon. I can’t, this is too much for one night!” 

“Vincent, oh my goodness!” Maybe this was a good thing. Now two people knew and that was okay.

—-————————————————————————

Everything was okay. Everything was honestly okay. Until it happened.

The two of them were just chilling in a stream and then Zak said it. Darryl didn’t understand at first. Why would he do it on stream? In front of thousands of people. But then it made sense. 

“Hey, Bad?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you’re my soulmate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)


	2. Chapter 2. Realisation - Part 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :3

Zak really thought it would be funny. To pretend to be his best friend’s soulmate on stream. Come on, it’s Bad! They love each other, they are best friends, nothing too horrible can happen, right?

Wrong. He should have thought this through. He needs to learn to deal with the consequences of his own actions. Because he fucked up. He fucked up really really bad. He should have waited for Vincent to read this plan and answer. No. He should not have done this at all. Now Darryl hates him. 

He didn’t know his connection type but he just made up one. He had a few options, but somehow he thought a tattoo would be okay. Or voices in his head. He decided to settle on the latter since is was more believable.

And now Zak could not stop thinking about the greatest mistake of his life. 

“Hey, Bad?” No, Nonono... stop. Don’t say it. Stop. Stop. You’ll hurt him. 

“Yeah?” Please. Don’t say it. Why did he do it? 

“I think I’m your soulmate.” Pause. Rewind. Don’t do it. Why can’t he go back in time and fix his mistake?

“...what?” Oh, he sounded so confused... but happy. He sounded happy. Zak felt like a nightmare, a disease, a curse. But he didn’t stop at that, no he continued to torment Darryl. 

“Yeah, um... recently I have been hearing a voice in my head.” A sharp breath from Darryl, a red flag. Something was wrong. Oh, dear god, why did Zak have to be so stupid and selfish. “And I just realised it’s yours.”

There was no reply. The chat was spamming ‘OMG SKEPHALO IS REAL’ but Darryl did not reply.

“Bad...?” Zak smiles awkwardly into his face cam, confused. 

And then it came. Zak had never been more scared in his life. Because Darryl’s warm and kind voice was empty and lifeless.

“You know, Zak. The worst part about this. That it would have worked. And I would have believed you. And I did. For a split second... for just a second, I did believe you.” Zak started to panic, but he couldn’t move. Fear overtook him and then realisation hit. “But you made a mistake. I’m not connected to my soulmate, who is, just so you know, a fucking asshole, through a voice in my head. I am a dreamwalker. I see him every night. I love him. And I know that he doesn't love me back.”

“Darryl, I-“ he swallowed, fighting back tears. He had to fix this. Now. “I’m so-“

“No. Save it. I don’t want to hear this right now.” Zak could practically hear the pain in Darryl’s voice and it tore him apart. “I can forgive you for anything, Zak. Hell, I would forgive you for murder. But this... has it ever occurred to you, that I might be in pain because you decided to pretend to be my soulmate in front of millions of people on stream? I just... I’m done. Do not contact me. I will talk to you when... if, I’m ready. Goodbye.” 

“Darryl! Wait, no, I-“

‘User disconnected from your channel.’

Zak felt a tear slide down his cheek as he sat there wide eyed, staring at the screen. He unfroze and scrambled to end the stream, not even bothering to look at the comments. He knew he'd get hate. But that did not matter. Because he just fucked up his relationship with his best friend. 

‘User joined your channel.’

Zak perked up hopefully, wiping his eyes and whispered. “Darryl?”

“Zak. You did not, actually do that, right? Please, please, please tell me you didn’t?” Vincent never begged anyone. But this was a special occasion. He just woke up and saw Skeppy’s message and hurried online praying he would be in time to stop him. But he was too late.

“I... I did.” Zak said in a small voice. He was terrified. He could not lose Darryl. He just couldn’t. “Oh, Vincent... what have I done?” He was also scared that the French man was going to hate him too. And he knew it was selfish to think about it right now but... he was terrified of being alone, even if it was completely his fault.

“You fucked up way more than you know, Zak...” Vincent whispered, his heart clenching. He had already texted Dream to go check up on Darryl and he was going to deal with... one mess of a Zak. 

Zak curled up in his chair forgetting about the face cam and pressed his hands over his mouth trying to prevent all the noise. He hated crying. When he fake cried, he was loud. But that was fake. In reality, he hated making any noises. He wished to be silent and not bother anyone with his problems. 

“Zak. Zak. Zak, hey, come on.” Vincent was trying and trying to get his friend to hear him and respond. But Zak seemed to have gone into a catatonic state of despair and fear. “Zak, fuck, listen to me!” He saw the other flinch at the loud sound and he shifted signifying that he was listening. “Okay, you’re alive, good... you fucked up. Really bad. But give him some time... and give yourself time, to realise what you have done and to think how to fix it.”

Zak sobbed and shook but nodded. “I... I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologising to me? I’m not the one you should be apologising to. But um... you two can’t live without each other. Quite literally.” Vincent snickered sadly, knowing that the two were soulmates. “So just give it time and keep trying...”

“Okay... thank you, Vincent...” Zak sounded very confused and scared, but a little more hopeful.

“Hey, you’re the only one who can fix this. But I’ll be here to help and to... keep you sane.” He shut up thinking about what would happen when Zak realises and sees the dream. “Zak? Promise to call me if you... come up with something?”

“I promise...” the other mumbled slowly, uncurling and wiping his eyes. 

“Good. Now go drink some water and go to sleep.” Vincent expected Zak to joke about him acting like a mom. But nothing came.

“Okay. Thank you. Goodnight.” And just like that he was gone. 

Zak breathed out shakily, tagging on his hair with force. No more jokes. No more trolls, on anyone. He had learned. And now he had to deal with the consequences.

——————————————————————————

It took him a month. A whole month. A month of silence, messages that weren’t even seen and calls that were sent to voicemail. A month without Darryl was what it took for Zak to realize that he was in love. 

He missed Darryl. His laugh, his excitement, his voice, his muffin talk. Without him the world was spinning, he could not focus. He could not manage one good recording because he kept calling Zelk Bad, or he would break down in the middle of a recording with Spifey, because the latter was being dumb and reminded Zak of Darryl. He was not active anywhere, Zelk and Mega practically took over InvadedLands. After two weeks of trying and failing, Zak gave up on trying to record. He just wanted Darryl. 

And then the dream came. He opened his eyes in a field of lavender and looked around. There was a terrace in the distance behind him and a forest even further. The sky was coloured the brightest blue he had ever seen. It reminded him of his Minecraft skin. And in front of him was the sea. The sea and Darryl.

This wasn’t a real place, Zak thought as he took off running towards the older man. This is half real. The Lavender Fields exist in France, but we're not by the sea. This is a dream. I'm a dreamwalker. Darryl is my soulmate. 

He saw the older man smile and turn around to him extending a hand out. His voice echoed:

“Zak! Come on!” Zak reached for him, desperate to get there in time but as soon as their fingertips touched: Darryl shattered. Like a mirror. Only instead of shards there were millions of green butterflies with reflective wings. Green, like his eyes. Zak froze, terrified and unsure. Darryl’s voice rang from everywhere, the butterflies were everywhere, in Zak’s hair, on his clothes and just swirling around him.

“My soulmate is a fucking asshole.” Zak turned and turned, trying to find him. 

“I love him.” No, he had to be here. Oh god, why didn’t Zak bother to learn about dreamwalking? Another point to add to his book of regrets.

“I can forgive you for anything, Zak. But this...” Zak whimpered a hoarse ‘I’m sorry’ covering his face. The sea had began storming, but there was no wind or rain.

“I’m done. I’m done. I’m done.” That phrase kept repeating and repeating, growing louder and louder as Zak started to cry and then... “WAKE UP!” 

Zak bolted awake. It was the same voice. Darryl’s voice, that said that. But he was not there. He was not there. 

Zak was back in his room. All alone and in tears. 

Realization dawned on him as he understood why Vincent said that he fucked up way more then he knew. He had not only hurt his best friend. He had hurt his soulmate. 

Never before had Zak ever felt so stupid and small.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadaaa~
> 
> I was gonna wait but it’s a shorter chapter so here you go ^~^ 
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)
> 
> Papercranes ❤️ Thank you!
> 
> All of you were hoping for it not to be a troll... sorry to crash your dreams(plsdontkillme)


	3. Chapter 3. Shattered.

“Goodbye.” Darryl disconnected. He did not remember half of the things he said. He was working on autopilot when he said that and he was still on autopilot now.

Zak’s stream was still open and Darryl could not move as he watched Zak start to cry and quickly turn off the stream. He was crying... did he hurt Zak? He didn’t mean to. What did he even say? He couldn’t remember. Darryl took off his headset and stared into space.

He just felt empty and the only thing he could actually feel was pain. It was a troll. Just a troll. Zak did not love him back.

Darryl punched a wall and only realized what he had done when he saw blood on his knuckles. Maybe the smart thing to do right now would be just to go to sleep... no. The thought of going to sleep and seeing Zak made him physically sick. He could not handle that now.

He was surprised he was not crying right now. It was weird. There was an empty feeling in his stomach and mind, accompanied by the pain in his chest. He went on with his routine, only instead of going to bed, he grabbed his guitar and climbed on the window sill.

“Hah. Am I being dramatic?” He ran his fingers over the strings and frowned at the out of tune sound. Out of tune, like his life right now. “It was just a troll after all.. I should just go to sleep...” At that he suddenly sat up and threw the guitar on the floor running off to the bathroom.

He threw up. He really just threw up at the thought of going to sleep and seeing Zak. Wow. It was not just a troll after all, at least not to him. He didn't know about what Zak thought.

Well then, he needed to go to the store and get more coffee and energy drinks. Because he could not imagine going to sleep any time soon.

———————————————————————  
Dream told Vincent that he wanted to wait for a few days before contacting Darryl. He knew that he did not want to be bothered when upset until he contacted anyone.

But it had been a week and Darryl was gone from all social media and was not answering calls from anyone. Dream, Vincent, Callahan, Sapnap and George included. And Zak, obviously.

So that’s when Dream decided he had enough. He was currently driving to Bad’s house, while on a call with George. He had let Vincent know that he was going beforehand.

“I should have just gone when Vincent asked me to...” Clay sighed focusing on the road. “My mistake.”

“I think you did the right thing. Have him space to think it through and time to ask for help. And when he did not ask for help, you’re doing it regardless. It’s what friends do.”

“George, I love you. You’re the best, you know that, right?” He chuckled softly as he heard a flustered humph from the phone.

“I’m not saying it back, Dream.”

“You don’t have to, I know you do too.” George didn’t reply to that. Because it was true. “Either way, Georgie. I’m almost here. So I have to go now.”

“Alright. Keep me updated, will you?”

“Of course. Later, lovely.” He pressed the end call button just as George let out a flustered ‘DREAM!’ and let out a soft laugh. He loved getting George flustered, especially with facecam on but this was not the case now. Now it was time to make Bad his top priority, he thought as he parked by Bad’s house.

He knocked but no one answered. So obviously, Clay reached for a pair of keys that he knew was hidden under a pot of lavender that Darryl had on his porch and opened the door.

It was dark and silent. Rat was sitting next to a full bowl of food seeming content. Okay, so he had been taking care of her. The dog ran over to him asking for attention and he picked it up, looking around confused.

“Darryl? Hey, bud, you here?” No answer. Again. Dream slowly crept to the direction of Darryl’s bedroom and only then he heard some very quiet sounds. Guitar and a quiet, extremely tired voice humming along to it. Dream sat the Rat down and opened the door.

Darryl was sitting on the window sill with his guitar. The room around him was littered with pieces of paper with scribbles of unknown nature on them. He looked up and squinted, clearly not recognising him.

“...Zak?” Oh. Oh god. That one word, one name, just broke Dream’s heart. It was obvious what was happening. Darryl was longing for his soulmate but also refusing to see him by staying awake.

“Oh, Darryl...” Dream quickly went over and pulled the older man into his embrace, cringing at the sound of the guitar dropping. “I’m not Zak. But I’m here for you.”

“Oh... it’s you.” He could hear the faint disappointment and relief in his exhausted voice. “Hi, Dream.”

“Hi, Bad.” Clay was really holding back tears right now. He promised Vincent he would not be angry at Zak. But in this moment, he really wanted to punch him for doing this to him. “Hey, Darryl... when was the last time you slept?”

“I dunno... how much time has passed?”

Dream felt like he just received another bullet in his heart. Seeing this kind and selfless man so... lost, yeah this was a good way to describe it, was painful. “Listen, bud. I am gonna help you pack your things, take Lucy and you are coming with me to my house. Okay?”

He was expecting Bad to argue. To put up a fight. That would mean he still had some fire left in him. It would mean that he cared, but all he got was:

“Okay.”

Dream sighed and let go of him. But then lifted him up instead. He was so loopy from lack of sleep, he almost fell when he stood up. “Change of plans. You are going to wait in the car, preferably nap, okay?”

At that, Darryl shook his head. Well, he was still fighting which was good, his refusal could not be a good thing. “Why not?”

“The thought of falling asleep... makes me sick.”

“...I did not want to do this but, um. I will make you drink a sleeping pill, if you don’t go to sleep.” That phrase made Darryl gag. “Oh god, I am so so so sorry for this, Dar. I hope you can forgive me later.” He had no other choice. It was for his friend’s well being. He got out the pills that Vincent sent him by fast track delivery from France and a bottle of water.

“Wait... I’ll take them by myself.” The somber voice whispered as he held out his hand.

“Oh, thank goodness. Also it. Not them.” Clay put one pill into Darryl’s palm and gave him the water watching him take the pill.

“Please take Rat, my knives and gun and my guitar...“

“Don’t make it sound like you are not going to wake up, Darryl.”

A minute. That’s all it took for Darryl to collapse into Clay’s arms fast asleep. He had to have gone a week without sleep, with held back tears and an emptiness sucking the life out of him, and going back to the warm lavender fields by the sea was the best choice for him.

Dream lifted him up and took him to the car, packing his things and Rat after that.

He had a plan: how to help him. And later, possibly Zak. He sighed and called Vincent, waiting for him to pick up. Darryl really needed a break and a distraction. And Dream was going to give that to him.

Maybe Fate just needed a little push...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter of the week... probably. We shall see ^~^ 
> 
> Enjoy the broken glass~
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)
> 
> Papercranes ❤️


	4. Chapter 4. From now on.

It took Zak some time to calm down and make himself get up, and then another two days to come to his senses. Naturally, this also meant no sleep. 

He was sure, he was absolutely sure, that for a split second Darryl was there with him. He pulled Zak out from the nightmare that his guilt and longing had turned their dreamscape into. That was good. That meant that Darryl was sleeping... Zak hoped so, at least, Vincent did not tell him anything even though he obviously knew. 

That also meant that Darryl still cared enough to help him, which gave Zak hope. He would find Darryl, would apologize, and would beg for forgiveness if needed, and would eventually confess. Simple plan, really. The first hard part was shaking Darryl’s location out of Vincent though....

Zak suddenly realized that Vincent probably knew. Darryl most likely told him that he saw Zak in his dreams... and that he was in love with him. Zak could not help but wonder when Darryl realized. When was his moment of realization that he loved Zak? He’d have to ask him when he sets everything right... 

Zak didn't think he deserved to be loved by Darryl in the first place, and especially now, not after all the mental breakdowns that he caused, even before his big mistake. Zak didn't think he deserved to be loved by Darryl, since Darryl was an absolute angel. Zak kept ruining him. But from now on his eyes will not be blinded by the lights. From now on what's waited 'til tomorrow starts tonight. Tonight. 

“Let this promise in me start like an anthem in my heart. From now on," he said to himself. From now on... Zak did not know where he heard that line but it was poetic and it fit the situation. He was going to fix it. He was set on getting Darryl back. 

Step one. Call Vincent.

“Zak. It’s late. I was asleep.” He had a lot to deal with at the moment, so he was not getting enough sleep. 

“Sorry, but it’s urgent.” Zak has this hint of desperation in his voice that made Vincent sigh and mumble a sleepy go on. “So, um... you told me to call if I figured something out... and I did... figure something out. And-” Zak was not sure what to say. He was in wrong in the whole situation and he was scared of asking about Darryl’s whereabouts when there was a possibility of losing Vincent. “And I really need to know... where Darryl is.” 

Vincent was really thinking about telling him, and he eventually would. But Zak could not say it out loud, because it would just turn into another heartbreak. “Talk to me more, Zak. I know where Darryl is but I don’t want him to get hurt again. He’s really not feeling well, man. He’s like a shell of what he used to be.” Vincent did not want to bring up that Darryl only slept when given sleeping pills, or that he had destroyed a tree with his throwing knives, or that Clay had found a half finished pack of cigarettes in his bag. 

Vincent was expecting Zak to come with excuses, to wiggle his way out of a direct confession but, on the contrary, Zak responded.

“He really is my soulmate. I love him. It’s okay if he doesn’t forgive me, but I want him to know that.” Zak was sincere and honest and Vincent saw that. 

“Okay. I like that... okay. I might get murdered by Dream for this so...” he sighed contemplating his life choices yet again. And decided to stall for a little bit. “Just so you know he really wants to hit you.”

“That’s okay. Just tell me!” Something fishy was going on. This was a matter of life and death. Why wouldn’t he just spit out?!

“I’m getting to it! Calm down, gosh... so, he is-“ and he made another pause. Was he doing this on purpose? As punishment? Or maybe it was just karma. “Wait, one last thing?”

“Yes?”

“Promise, you won’t get mad...? At me, I mean...” Okay? This was weird. 

“Why would I get mad at you, Vin?” Zak asked softly, curling up on his chair. “You’re the one who should be mad at me. And yet, here you are - helping me instead... you’re such an amazing friend, I don’t appreciate you enough.”

“Oh, um...” Vincent was flustered. “I believe in second chances. And I want Skephalo to be canon so... Darryl is here.”

“Here? Where here?”

Vincent took a short annoyed breath in. It’s okay, it’s okay. Zak was dumb sometimes. 

“He is here. With me. In France.” 

“...What?” He did not have the right to be mad. But he couldn’t help to feel jealous and a little upset, even though it was not his place. His mind could not help but imagine Vincent holding Darryl in a comforting embrace. “That’s... fine.” 

“You’re upset?”

“No. Yes, I mean... I’m just jealous. That you can hold him. And I can’t.” Zak explained, forcing out a sad chuckle. 

“Not really, no...” Vincent also chuckled sadly. “For a dog person, he acts weirdly like a cat. Not like Ian though. Dar comes by sometimes and randomly gives me or Clay or hug... and then the rest of the time he hides somewhere alone.” 

“Oh...” Zak swallowed even more guilt and sighed. “Is there more...?”

“Yes, Zak. There is a lot more. There is a reason why Clay keeps swearing to break your kneecaps.” 

“He can break my kneecaps if that means Dare forgives me...” Zak mumbled, searching up the earliest flight to France. He didn’t care about the price, he’ll pay everything he’s got to see and talk to Darryl again. 

“He might break my kneecaps too. For telling you. He is so protective...” Vincent shifted at his end of the call, probably sitting up.

“I’ll be there before he does it. Maybe you should invite George over. To distract him...” Zak chuckled, paying for the ticket as Vincent hummed in thought and agreement. “All done. My flight is in... 5 hours. Hey, Vince?”

“Mm?” The French man seemed to be half asleep but still lingering on the call, keeping Zak company. 

“Thank you. For sticking around even when I messed up so badly. And for being patient with me. And for helping Darryl. He really needs someone by his side right now...” 

“Always. I have not been the best friend to you sometimes. And now is the time to make up for it.” Vincent mumbled tiredly but affectionately. “Do you want me to stick around while you pack?”

“Um...” Zak considered it. But he had things to do and Vincent needed his sleep. “No, thank you. Go to sleep. I need to talk to Mega and Zelk about InvadedLands, either way.”

“Alright. Don’t forget to sleep yourself.”

“I don’t think I can. What I saw in the dreamscape was horrible. I will tell you later, okay?”

“Okay...” he could hear the concern in Vincent’s voice. He did not deserve that either: to have such great friends or to be loved. “Bonne nuit.”

“Bunny what?” 

“I said goodnight in French, you dummy.”

“Oooh... Goodnight. Or Bunny night.” He heard Vincent chuckle softly before hanging up. It made him a bit happier, that he made one of his friends laugh.

Zak knew that he really wasn’t that good at anything, or at least he thought so. In his mind his main and only advantage and talent was making people happier by his jokes and sense of humor... he sucked at that more recently too, upsetting Darryl and Vincent and Dream and...well, everyone, really.

The amount of hate he got for the soulmate troll was overwhelming. But it was all the truth. So he took it. He quickly gave up on social media, which was the moment he gave up on recording. He only looked at messages from friends and sent daily messages to Darryl.

He could fix the channel later, after he fixes his relationship with Darryl. 

But now he had some time to figure out the not so important part of his life out, while he packed and mentally prepared to face the important one. So he called Zelk and got Mega into the call too.

“Zak! Jesus, man, you were gone for fucking forever!” Zak snickered sadly and bit his tongue as his mind replayed a faint ‘Language!’ Somewhere at the back... god, he missed Darryl. He never left Zak’s mind. 

“Yeah, sorry... I’m not going to be active for some time. Sorry, to make you do all the work.” He felt guilty. Adding responsibilities that should be his into others. He should be able to do everything. 

He chuckled seeing what Mega typed in chat:

'Are you okay? I can’t even say you disgust me. Because you’re upset. And I don’t like it when you’re upset. It’s no fun when you’re not laughing at it.’

“Aww, thank you, Mega. I’m glad you care. I’m... no, I’m not okay. But I will be soon. I hope.” He could have lied. But he couldn’t for some reason. Besides, these were his friends, they knew that he was not doing well either way. “Can you please... take care of InvadedLands for a little longer, guys? I’m sorry I’m putting so much responsibility on you-“

“Shut up, you idot. Taking care of the server is literally our job.” Jacob scoffed and sighed, worried about Zak. “Besides. We do not mind taking on a few more responsibilities while you are sorting your life out. Right, Mega?”

‘Yes. Go get your man. Or whatever.’

Zak chuckled quietly. He had gotten progressively quieter over the last month. Sound meant bothering people and he did not want to do that. “Thanks, guys. You’re the best.”

“Well, I know, I am!” Zelk was trying to lift the mood. “Not so sure about the cute uncute mute.”

‘Shut it. Stop talking in oxymorons.’ 

Zak hummed, they were interesting together. “We should meet up when I come back from France.”

“Oooh, yeah, definitely! Megs, what do you think?” 

‘... I will think about it. Megs?’

“Oh, I called you Megs?” Zak was smiling from ear to ear now. They were flirting. Kind of. And it was cute. “Sorry, I didn’t notice... but I think it’s cute and suits you, no?”

‘...Whatever’

“Aww, Megs... are you flustered?” Zelk dissolved into a fit of giggles.

‘No. Stop talking.’

“You are ao flustered...”

“Aww, you two are cute. But I gotta go pack! Bye!”

“Bye! Have fun in France!”

‘Good luck, idiot.” 

Zak chuckled, hanging up. He saw that the two stayed in the call. And he shipped it. Now he got why Vincent was so excited about him and Darryl... and his thoughts were back at Darryl. 

He knew it would take a while. But he really wanted Darryl to hold him. He wanted to cuddle to his side and to shower him with kisses and to give him compliments and fight anyone who made Darryl self conscious and take him on dates. He really wanted to have that with Darryl. But he was willing to wait, hoping that one day he could have that. 

Zak felt like he did not deserve to have someone as amazing as Darryl as his soulmate. But yet here they were. 

At the end of the line, Darryl deserves the world and more.   
So Zak promises to give him the universe. 

———————————————————

Zak had just arrived at Vincent’s door step. It was currently 5:30 am. And he could not stop pacing. He was scared, terrified of what would happen when he knocked on that door. Darryl wouldn't be happy to see him for sure. What if he refused to give him a chance to apologize? It'd be okay if he didn't not forgive, but he had to apologize. 

Zak dropped his bag and sat down on the porch pulling his hair, and whispering quietly under his breath. 

“Get yourself together, you fucking coward.” 

“I wouldn’t say you are a coward since you’re here.” A familiar voice rang from behind him, scaring the hell out of him. He jumped and whirled around meeting Darryl’s eyes. The taller was leaning on the doorframe looking at Zak calmly. Or well it seemed like he was calm, but Zak could tell there was a storm building in his eyes. 

He looked tired, like he hardly got any sleep, but he was still there. He was real. Zak felt overwhelmed by the tsunami of emotions he was having right now. Love, fear, sadness and guilt. Not a very good mix. He had a whole speech prepared that he kept repeating in his head, but now he was at a loss of words and struggling to breathe. 

He felt like he was drowning. Pulled deeper and deeper by an invisible force. There was no escape from the darkness surrounding him. That is until he felt a hand on his shoulder and a quiet: 

“Zak.” 

—————————————————————  
More cliffhangers :3 

Hope you enjoyed! 

Thank you papercranes ❤️

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)


	5. Chapter 5. Promise.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Road to recovery :3

Darryl knew that Zak was coming. He was not told so, but he overheard Clay and Vincent fighting about it. 

Clay really managed to set Vincent off by calling him a traitor. The French man punched Dream in the face and whispered with his voice breaking: “No. You listen to me. Darryl is not happy. He is content. But he is not happy. If he was happy, he would not be hiding away and smoking and destroying my fence with his knives and he would be sleeping. And the only one who can make him happy is Zak.” 

The two did not speak for the rest of the day. Darryl did not intervene, choosing to think about what to say to Zak. He actually had no idea. He wanted to lash out... but he also wanted to just sit and listen to what Zak had to say. After all, he missed him.

They were best friends for something, and ultimately, soulmates. If Zak wanted to be his soulmate that is... if not they could find a way to get rid of the connection. It was possible, he had read about it before... it was sad and certain to be painful as hell for both soulmates. Getting rid of the person he longed for his entire life, the one he was in love with? He had not thought about that before. It was a scary thought that shook Darryl down to the core. But he figured he would find out soon enough.

He heard Zak pacing around. His senses were heightened due to the lack of sleep and anticipation. So he crept to the door and opened it, his eyes widening slightly. 

Zak was here. And he was panicking. Darryl felt his heart clench when the small man sat down and curled up trying to calm down:

“Get yourself together, you fucking coward.” Coward? Zak was anything but a coward. He was here even though he messed up a lot, and he was going to face his fear. 

“I wouldn’t say you are a coward since you’re here.” He didn’t mean to say it. He didn’t mean to reveal his presence. But what’s done is done. And now he was facing a pale and shocked Zak. 

He frowned as he saw the smaller one gasping for air. All he really wanted now was to wrap Zak in a blanket, make him tea, press him really close and cuddle for the rest of the night. But he could not do that since Zak was probably here to tell him he did not want anything to do with him. But nevertheless, he could do something to soothe his panic.

He gently squeezed his shoulder and called his name, softly.

“Zak.” What he did not expect was for the other to burst out in tears.

“Ah... I’m sorry. I had-“ he started furiously rubbing his eyes. “I had this whole... speech prepared. But you’re here and-“ Darryl’s eyebrows flew up as Zak bit his hand trying to stop any sounds coming up. 

“Zak... What are you doing?” His second hand slowly came up to Zak’s hand, pulling it away from his mouth. They both flinched and froze at the contact, Zak’s hand still in Darryl’s. 

They say that a soulmate's touch, especially the first touch ever, is special for all types of connections. They both now realised it was true. He felt a pleasant feeling spread through his veins and neither let go of one another. Zak started to cry even more.

“I am so, so, sorry...” Darryl didn’t say anything, but he did not let go of his hand. “This was not meant... to happen like this. Our first meeting and first touch, I mean...” Zak sobbed and squeezed Darryl’s hand. “It was meant to be special and I- I ruined it.”

“Zak.” Zak did not hear him, continuing to apologise.

“And I’m so sorry for hurting you. I regretted saying that the moment the words came out of my mouth and I heard you speak and then...” Darryl suddenly understood what happened then.

“You remember...?”

“Yeah... I’m sorry. I get it if you don’t want me anymore, but I just wanted you to know how sorry I am.” He frowned and slid his palm across Zak’s cheek, wiping his tears away and making the other freeze.

“I forgive you.” He whispered quietly. “Or um... I will forgive you. It will take awhile for me to... get used to everything. But we can... try to fix... this. Us.” He cleared his throat. The empty feeling was still there. But he felt like the ice was slowly melting. “But, um... why on earth did you think, I would not want you?” 

Zak started at him silently for a while, sniffled and then another waterfall of tears cascaded from his eyes. He was so extremely happy that Darryl was giving him a second chance but then everything that had built up over the past month, all the hate he received and the self deprecating thoughts, came tumbling down.

“Because, because- because I always... ruin everything. Because I don’t deserve someone as good as you.” Darryl frowned and let him talk, but kept wiping the tears away. “I thought, surely, after everything I’ve done you would cut the connection.” 

Darryl let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. “I thought you were coming here to do that. But, Zak... you don’t ruin... everything.” He could not lie, Zak did make him feel shit for a while and he was not fully over it. But what was more important was that Zak realized his mistakes and fixed them. “Don’t compare yourself to me, I’ve done some pretty messed up things before. And, after all... Fate made us soulmates for something, didn’t she?” 

Zak didn’t answer, instead he buried himself in Darryl’s chest. The older flinched and took a while to hug back. 

“When was the last time you slept?” Darryl asked quietly, hesitantly bringing his hands to Zak’s hair.

“Uuh... two days ago. You?”

“About a week. I took a 10 minute nap two days ago though.” 

Zak frowned and gripped his shirt, looking up with teary eyes. “Let’s go to sleep.” He realized that his assumption was true: Darryl was the one to wake him on his first conscious time in the Lavender Fields.

Darryl still felt a bit sick at the thought, but he sighed and nodded. “I’ll take a pill then.” He let go of Zak and stepped away, opening the door for him. 

“A pill?”

“Sleeping pill. I can’t sleep without them.”

“Sorry...” Zak mumbled again, still feeling guilty.

“Stop apologizing. What’s in the past is in the past.” Darryl opened the door to the living room and pressed a finger to his lips, since Clay was passed out on the couch. 

“Not really.” Zak whispered back following Darryl into a guest bedroom. “Since...” the effects of my actions will haunt us for a while. He could not make himself finish the phrase. Because Darryl seemed to read his mind and shut him up with one small glance. “Are you okay... with sleeping in one bed?”

“Mm... yeah. It’s fine.” Darryl kicked off his shoes and sat on the bed. “Bathroom is over there.” 

Zak nodded, disappearing for 10 minutes. When he came out of the bathroom he froze. Darryl was leaning on the window sill with his hair slightly messed up with the night breeze and... he was smoking. Since when did he smoke? Zak didn’t really care but he instantly decided it was his fault. 

“Why are you...?” He asked quietly and slowly came closer. 

“It’s just to destress. I used to smoke in high school. Then I quit. And I started again cause I was...”

“Really upset?” Zak signed and suddenly hugged him from behind, although his confidence shuddered when he felt Darryl tense up. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

“No. It’s not. It was my decision.” 

“Please stop.” Darryl froze up. Was he really going to stop doing something just because his soulmate... no. Just because Zak told him so? He did not have the answer to that question. He really did not need to answer because Zak slid around him and pulled the cigarette from his fingers putting it out and leaving it on the ashtray. And Darryl let him.

“I get that... it might feel like relief. But it’s not good for you in the long run.” Darryl just looked at him silently. He did not know what to say. He still did not fully realise that... Zak was really here. He had just hugged him and he took his hand just now. “I know, I messed up really badly. And you don’t fully trust me anymore. With your heart and with your emotions... And that’s okay. Because I am going to win back that trust. So, instead of apologising again...” Zak smiled shyly and Darryl stared. How can anyone look so beautiful after they had just finished crying? “I promise to always be here for you. From now on.” 

Darryl didn’t answer. He was no good with words at the moment. Usually he would say something romantic but now... he felt like actions spoke louder then words. So he leaned down and pressed his forehead into Zak’s closing his eyes tiredly. He felt Zak’s breath shudder and a wave of warmth run through both of them. It was a feeling that only holding your soulmate could cause.

“Let’s go to sleep, Zak.” Darryl whispered, opening his eyes and watching the other, without pulling away. 

—————————————————————————-  
They are laying in bed together, laying close but not touching. They wanted to but Darryl is not quite ready to cuddle and Zak is too afraid to ask.

“Darryl?”

“Mm?” 

“Can I... hold your hand?” There was silence for a few seconds after the question. And then...

“Yes. Yes, you can.”

That night they dissolved into Morpheus’s realm, peacefully for the first time in forever, facing each other and their hands intervened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papercranes ❤️ Thank you 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Don’t worry, I am not done with the angst ÒwÓ *insert evil laughter* 
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)
> 
> Alright, I’m gonna go nap now ^~^


	6. Chapter 6. Bittersweet Sugar.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The road to recovery for Darryl and Zak begins, through hardships towards the stars 
> 
> While Clay makes a big mistake...

Vincent usually loved mornings. Well, that depends on how much sleep he got last night, but usually he’s okay with them. But today. Today he was woken up by screaming. 

Clay’s voice screaming threats and a very familiar voice, which did not register for sleepy Vincent yet, pleading for mercy.

Vincent rushed downstairs into the kitchen and froze. Darryl was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, his hair was a mess, and he didn’t have his glasses on, but he looked so much better than before. 

“Dar? What’s going on?” His heart literally stopped because he saw the corners of Darryl’s mouth move into a small smile, although he hid it in his coffee a second later. 

“Clay walked in on me and Zak asleep. Now, he has chased Zak onto a tree and is trying to get him down and break his legs.” 

“Zak is here?”

“Yeah, he arrived last night.” 

“Oh... did you forgive him?” 

Darryl sat his cup down and nodded. “Yeah... yeah I did. Obviously, it’s not going to be okay just because I did. But we’re working on that.”

Right at that moment Zak zoomed through the door and slammed it shut, leaning against it. A body slammed against on the other side.

“Open this door, Zakary! We are not done here!” Clay genuinely sounded terrifying and Zak looked scared until he saw Darryl. Then the fear on his face was washed away and replaced by affection. 

“Hi.”

Darryl chuckled quietly, making Vincent freeze up again. He was genuinely smiling. That did not happen in a while. Seems like he was right. Zak was able to make Darryl truly happy. 

“Hi... you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine... Hi Vinny! How are you doing? Can we please lock this door?” Vincent started laughing at the utter panic in Zak’s voice, and shook his head. 

“Suffer, Zak.”

“I can hear you, you know! You are making it worse! I will shave your eyebrows off, Zakary!” Clay banged on the door some more. He knew it was wrong to scare Zak like that, but he felt like he deserved it for everything that he put Darryl through. 

“Yeah, I am so tweeting about this.” Vincent pulled out his phone typing out the tweet.

“You are a traitor, Vin! Okay, I’m not fine. Dar... please save me.” 

Darryl smiled again and opened his arms for Zak mumbling: “Come here.” 

Zak literally bolted and hid in Darryl’s arms. “...thanks.” They both relaxed, feeling the already familiar warm wave hit them. Soulmate contact was really a magic thing. 

And then Dream slammed the door open:

“Where the hell is he?!” then his eyes landed on Darryl, who raised his eyebrows coldly and pressed Zak closer protectively. Dream stepped down. “Oh. Oh... okay. But we are not done here.”

“I think you are.” Darryl finally spoke up, sounding calm but his voice was laced with dangerous undertones. Zak didn’t even know his sweet pure Bad could sound like that. 

“What? But-“

“Enough is enough, Clay.” Darryl’s time somehow darkened even more. “Zak and I talked, I forgave him. We will figure out the rest by ourselves.... if I were you, I would be scared of what Vincent is tweeting right now instead.” 

“...Sorry, Zak. Sorry, Darryl.” Clay mumbled and grabbed his phone, opening Twitter and paling rapidly. “I forget how scary you were in high school sometimes.... Vincent, what the hell?!”

*****  
@a6doff: @GeorgeNotFound please tell your boyfriend to stop chasing Skeppy onto the tree =_=

@GeorgeNotFound: I don’t have a boyfriend and you’re in France?

@Sapnap: Yeah, A6d. I’m not in France, stop confusing George 

@GeorgeNotFound: You are also not my boyfriend, Sapnap

@Sapnap: :( anyways I think he meant Dream 

@GeorgeNotFound: Dream is in France?

@Sapnap: he didn’t tell you?

@GeorgeNotFound: No. He did not.

@a6d: oh-oh... 

******

“I’m sorry! How was I supposed to know you didn’t tell him?!” Vincent shifted closer to Darryl too. Just in case. Clay seemed to listen to Darryl more after all. “You told us... that he knew.” 

That shut Dream up. He did. He lied to Vincent and to Darryl. And in a way he lied to George. And it backfired. 

Everyone in the comments was freaking out right now. Skeppy was in France. Dream was in France. And George was not told about this and upset. 

“Guys? I think we should give him some space.” Zak mumbled looking at the gloomy Clay. He had no idea about this whole drama since he was focused on getting Darryl back and self-deprecating for a month. 

“Yeah, that would probably be for the best.” Vincent replied as he watched Clay go back to his couch pouting. “I can show you around in the meantime...”

“Didney world?!” Zak perked up. “Can we go to Disney world?! Please, please, please-“ Darryl put his hand in his hair. And Zak shut up. Cause Darryl’s hand was in his hair, and he felt like purring like a cat at the moment. 

“I think we should go all together, so let’s go sightseeing instead.” Zak made a weird noise which was meant to be a yes to Darryl’s words. He could not think straight right now. Literally.

Vincent chuckled and took a picture, without showing Darryl’s face. So it was just a very pleased Zak with someone else’s hand in his hair. “Besides. Astérix Park is way better in terms of rides and there are games with prizes and there’s a delphinium.” 

“...you really like that theme park, ha?” Zak mumbled, a bit upset that Darryl let go of him now. He noticed that although Darryl was not short on giving him affection, it did not last very long. Darryl would hug him, pet his hair and hold his hand. But he let go pretty quickly. A few minutes later he would do it again. Long hugs and cuddles were something Zak needed to work to get to. 

“Yes. But we can go to both. Since Disney world is authentic and all... question. Can I post this picture to Twitter?” Vincent turned his phone showing a picture of Zak he just took. He seemed to have learned his lesson about posting without permission.

“No!” Zak might have panicked. He just did not want to get even more hate. “I mean... better not to.”

“Why not? It’s pretty cute.” Darryl whispered putting his hands on Zak’s shoulders. And there it is again. 

“I just...” he did not want to think about all the hate. Not yet. He was not ready to talk about it. “Maybe later, okay? I don’t want it to be posted now.”

“Zak. Are you okay?” Darryl’s hand was on his cheek, and he was looking into his eyes seriously, and he... he could not lie. 

“No. Something happened online during the past month.” He saw Darryl frown and reach for his phone with his free hand but Zak stopped him. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, if that’s okay? But I will tell you everything later. As soon as I’m ready.”

“...yeah. That’s fine.” Darryl still looked concerned, but he respected Zak’s wishes and let it go. He gave him a quick affectionate hug and nuzzled into his hair before letting go. Both were blushing. 

Vincent stared at them with a weird expression. It was amused and annoyed at the same time. “Virgins.” He coughed trying to hide it. But everyone heard and Zak started laughing while Darryl just shook his head with a condescending smile.

“Don’t make assumptions, Vincent.” Now it was Zak’s time to choke on laughter. He didn’t expect.... that... from Darryl out of all people. Vincent seemed to be having an out-of-body experience trying to process what Darryl just said. “Anyways! I am gonna go change!”

“Bad! No, explain! Darryl!” Zak finally stopped coughing and followed him.

———————————————————

Clay had royally messed up. Well... now he knows how Zak feels. Or at least he understood the feeling. However, he still wanted to believe Zak’s mess up was worse.

George did not say anything, he did not call, did not text and did not acknowledge Dream’s mistake in any way. 

However, that was the problem. Usually hat would be talking all the time, whenever it was texting, sending memes to each other or calling. Some contact would be included. And now it was just silence.

Screaming silence. Why screaming? Because Clay was screaming like crazy inside his head. He didn’t even know why he did not tell George. Or well... he did. He liked George. He liked George a lot. And if there was the slightest possibility that George was his soulmate meeting him would either confirm or deny that. And Clay was not ready for confrontation. He was too scared to face disappointment if George was not his soulmate. 

What he really did not know was why he lied to Vincent and Darryl about it... he should apologise to both of them too. It was not their fault. It was Clay’s fault, because he was dumb, ridiculous and self-conscious. 

His phone chimed but Dream was faced with disappointment as it was only Sapnap.

Sapnap: Dude. You two are the most stubborn people I know, I swear... a pair of donkeys. He’s not mad(well maybe a bit), just upset and confused. Talk. To. Him. 

Dreamy: I don’t want to make him more angry...

Sapling: Clay. I swear to fucking God. He won’t be more angry. Call him, right now or I will do something 

Dreamy: like wat?

Sapling: Like buy George a ticket to France myself. 

Dreamy: ...I’m calling him now. Bye.

Sapling: Idiot. Tell me how it goes

Clay sighed, his finger hovering over the call button. If he doesn’t do it now, he will never do it. So... better late then never, right? He pressed called and waited a few seconds. 

George picked up really quickly, which was hopefully a good thing. But then Clay opened his mouth to speak and nothing came out. For once, he was at a loss of words, his mind went blank and all the apologies flew out the window. 

George, however, got worried, hearing his friend’s breathing speeding up and the silence go on. Something was not right, although he knew that from the moment he found out about Dream being two hours away from him in France... he thought Dream was with Darryl. Did he take Darryl to France? That would make sense... since Skeppy was there... 

But there was also a possibility of Vincent being Clay’s soulmate. He did not know what Clay’s connection type was and never seen him before so it could very well be a drawing connection. And Dream flirts with A6d on Twitter all the time... 

George is not the jealous type, really. Especially since Clay is just a friend. But he really was extremely jealous of that possibility. Of the possibility that Clay drew roses on his arms, and they showed up on Vincent’s. Of the possibility that Clay went to him, and they hugged and cuddled and kissed and... eat croissants together in a Paris cafe and then watched the sunset on the Eiffel Tower. He wanted to be in Vincent’s place. That thought was nice and scary at the same time... 

His mind was racing, it could be both possibilities. It could be even more than that... but what was more important right now was calming Dream and getting an explanation. 

“Clay?” 

——————————————————

The trio had the best day out in the city. They had crepes in a small cafe, Vincent’s favorite. It was very authentic, and they had the best crepés ever. It also had the best view. Going there was the best decision because Darryl smiled more and even said that he really liked the crepés even though muffins are generally better, and then Zak got ecstatic learning there is such a thing as Vanilla Cream... which lead to him getting covered in it and getting a huge sugar rush. But Darryl still got the recipe for it and wrote it down, and Vincent got to take a picture of Darryl holding Zak in place with one hand and cleaning his face with a tissue with another... those were all going to Twitter when he gets permission, but for now they can stay in his Skephalo folder. 

“Zak. Hold still.” Darryl’s voice was soft and full of affection as he tried to calm and hold his squirming, high on sugar soulmate in place. 

He had decided to take care of Zak. Now that they found each other and most of the problems were solved, or at least being worked on, Darryl wanted to cherish and spoil and shower Zak with affection, care and love. But he couldn’t. He could not trust him with his heart yet.

Still. Even if it was little things, for now, he wanted to show him that he cared. He could not bring himself to hold him for long, even though he really wanted to. His skin burned when they touched and, although it was pleasant, it got too much when the contact last a long time. On the other hand, it also began to burn if he didn’t touch Zak for a long time too. Darryl did not know the correct term for that... something about physical contact hunger? 

“I think it would not have been as bad if we didn’t give him coffee.” Vincent chimed in, still filming. It could turn into a vlog too... potentially. “Regrets...”

“It’s okay. I’ll handle it...” It was quite hard to handle it though. Zak was speaking at what seemed like a hundred words per second, holding onto Darryl’s hands thus not really allowing him to clean the Vanilla cream and jumping in one spot all at the same time. How he managed that was unknown. 

“Dare, Darryl, Dar, Darling! You know, you’re like the bestest!” He was making Darryl blush, which the older one did not really like. He wanted to be in control of his emotions. 

“Dude, his pupils are huge...” Vincent laughed stepping closer to film. 

“You are so kind and so soft and so patient and so precious and so amazing and so innocent... although I am not sure about the last one anymore because... you said not to make assumptions.” 

“Zak, please, stop moving.” Darryl begged, also getting a bit scared of what the other might say. “His pupils are fine, Vin. He’s not on drugs, he’s just on sugar... although we might need to cut this trip short because he will get down from it soon and that will not be pretty.” He finally managed to clean Zak’s face even though the smaller man was still mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like ‘I love you’ into the tissue. Darryl did not want to think about it. “So yeah. We better get the best of it while we still can.” 

Darryl tried to let go of Zak now that he was done, as his skin was starting to burn, but Zak was clinging to him. “Your eyes are so pretty.”

“Zak, what?” Darryl blushed faintly, trying to press Zak away without hurting him. “What’s this about?”

“Wait no... Your eyes aren’t pretty.” Darryl was genuinely extremely confused. Was Zak going somewhere with this? “They are the most beautiful eyes ever!” 

“Zak, let go of me, please-“

“Ah, sorry.” He stepped back and pouted, but quickly recovered and went on: 

“Your eyes are like, emerelands- emar- how is that word pronounced?!” Darryl made a soft aww sound. Zak was too cute. “Emeralds! Yay, I got it! And freshly cut grass! And your hair so pretty, it’s like the color of the autumn leaves and you smell very nice...” 

“Zak... stop.” Darryl mumbled covering his mouth, blushing madly. He had never got so many compliments at one time. So this was making him very flustered. 

“Noooo! I wanna show you how much I lo- care about you!” Zak jumped up in one place trying to express his excitement. He opened his arms and smiled, standing on his tip toes for some reason. Vincent has slithered away to pay and left the two alone at this point. 

Darryl sighed and frowned stepping away. “Stop saying that, Zak. I can’t- don’t want to... um.” He really did not know how to express his feelings at the moment. He was flustered, it was nice and it was exactly what he longed for but at the same time... it hurt. “I am not ready for... this yet. Wait, please. Alright?”

Now, Zak may have been a little delirious at the moment. He felt like he was filled with electricity and could not stay in one place or stay silent, but he could hear the hurt in Darryl’s words, and he forced the world that was spinning around him to slow down. 

“...I’m sorry. I should have... held back. Hold on. I’m not thinking straight.” He mumbled desperately pinching himself trying to get a hold of himself and stop scaring Darryl. “Too fast?” 

“Yeah. Too fast.” Darryl mumbled looking at Zak and feeling a bit guilty. “Don’t feel guilty though. I thought i was ready, but now I realise that I’m not.” 

“Okay, um... gimme a few minutes to come down from this...” he mumbled holding onto a wall. The world started spinning again, and he blinked desperately trying to stop the dizziness. “I just wanna... we need a safeword.”

“A safeword...?”

“Yeah. For when I get too much. You say it and I stop immediately. How does that sound?”

“Actually. That’s a very good idea... but it has to work both ways. Like when you don’t to talk about something or feel upset or... you know the drill. Okay?”

“Okay... What is it going to be for you? Not muffin, please, you use that too much and I will be constantly scared I did something wrong.” 

Darryl chuckled quietly in return, moving a little closer to Zak:

“I’ll think about it. But, um... I just wanted to say. Don’t feel bad about this situation. They were just compliments and I get where you are coming from. It was just too soon... Besides. It’s normal to blurt out your thought when you are high on sugar.” Darryl felt his face hearing up again. Especially since Zak smiles at the last part. “I think it’s sweet... that you think that. But just keep your thoughts to yourself, when you can, for now.”

“I will. Promise.” Zak mumbled and smiled shyly. He was slowly getting down from the sugar rush and the fatigue was slowly coming into effect. “I, um. Later can you tell me your boundaries? I get the limited contact, and that I need slow down with the compliments... but I want to know exactly what I can and cannot do. I want to do this right. I want to treat you right.” 

“I need time to think about that. But I will tell you soon.”

“Alright. I will also ask before I do anything.” Zak sighed and shook his head. “Speaking of which, can I hold onto you because I feel like I am going to pass out any second?”

Darryl chuckled and nodded. This was good, they were setting boundaries and Darryl felt a bit more at ease... even though he knew that if Zak passes out, or rather when he passes out, Darryl would be the one who will have to carry him. 

“Thank.” Zak mumbled and put his hand on his shoulder. “Mlem...”

“Aww... what was that noise?” Darryl whispered and slowly brought Zak closer, allowing him to lean on his shoulder. “Dizzy?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to go home?”

“Yes, please....”

Vincent came back, having paid for everything. “How are you two doing?”

“We’re figuring it out, Vin.” Darryl smiles faintly and yawned. “We’re both pretty tired... well I’m tired and Zak is sugar crashing. So let’s head home.”

“Mrrrrr...” Zak made a weird noise and slowly started to slip down on the floor.

“...he can’t walk, can he?”

“Nope. And you are not strong enough to carry him. So I’ll just... give him a piggyback ride or something?”

“Are you okay with that, Dar?” Zak mumbled into his shoulder. His words were slurred, and he was on the brink of consciousness, but he was still trying. 

“Yeah. I think I’ll just need a few hours of quiet after that.”

“Good.” It was still afternoon but both of them needed a break. Darryl needed some time to collect himself too. 

“Mhm, now, come on.” Darryl kneeled down and Zak hoisted on his back. “Hold on right, alright...” he wanted to say a pet name. He really did. He even had one in mind. But he could not make himself do it.

Zak sighed and nuzzled in Darryl’s hair. “Thank you...”

Darryl promised to take care of Zak. Even if it was just to himself for now. But one day he’d promise it out loud. And he could tell that Zak made a similar promise about him. 

“Always, Zak.”

———————————————————

When they came back home, Zak was very much passed out. And drooling on Darryl’s hoodie. Vincent was silent and walked off to help his parents almost immediately.

Darryl tacked Zak into bed, couldn’t help but just stay and look at him for minute. He looked so peaceful and beautiful. It felt nice. He could not open up fully but it did feel nice to know that Zak is trying to break the ice that had covered Darryl’s heart. 

When he snapped out of his trance, he decided to get more coffee... and check on Clay. He made two cups and then discovered Clay in a bundle of blankets on the couch. 

“Clay? You wanna talk?”

“Mm... yes. But also no. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I get you. You don’t have to tell me anything right no-“

“I made it worse!” Clay suddenly whispered looking at Darryl with a broken and confused stare.

“What do you mean?”

“I called George. But as soon as he said my name I panicked, hang up and threw my phone into a wall.” He didn’t cry. He just looked lost and confused... like a hurt puppy. 

“Oh, Clay...” Darryl frowned and brought him into a hug. 

“He hates me now.”

“George could never hate you. But uh... I understand how he feel. At the moment. Do you want my advice?”

“Yes, please.” Dream’s voice was very small.

“Talk to him. It would be better if you do it in real life. So either go to him or get him a ticket here. It’s easier because... you can’t back out or run away when he’s right in front of you.”

“So can I just, send him a ticket to France with a sorry?”

“I would add, let’s talk when you arrive, muffin.”

“Yeah, that sounds goo- You said muffin!” Dream sat up quickly grabbing Darryl’s shoulders.

“Ha? Dream, what?”

“You said muffin! You didn’t say muffin in a month!” Dream smiled bright feeling so much happier at the small sign of Darryl’s happiness. “I’m so happy that you are feeling better!”

“I guess I am.” Darryl smiled faintly and gently pressed Dream away. He had enough touching for the day. “We decided to have a safeword, and we’ll discuss boundaries when he wakes up... but um... he makes me happy.” 

“I’m glad... even though I still want to break his kneecaps for what he did, I think I should focus on actually apologising to George.” Dream smiled sheepishly, feeling very guilty and upset and trying to hide it. Surprisingly, Darryl did not connect on his behavior. He was very tired but being stubborn and still feeling sick about going to sleep. “You should sleep. Take the pill and go. I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t wanna...” Darryl mumbled childishly. 

“The lack of sleep is getting to you, even though you slept last night. Go. I’ll be fine.”

“Noooo... can I stay here while you text George? I’ll beatbox for you...”

“Bad, go to bed.”

“Aw.” Darryl decided to use his final weapon which was...

“No, Darryl. Do not use puppy eyes on me, that won’t work. Look, bud. You have to sleep, okay? You don’t have to spend time with Zak in the... sleep realm? Or whatever it’s called. You just need your rest.” The two stayed silent staring at each other with Bad looking like an upset and cranky hamster. “Darryl, go...” 

Dream honestly felt like he was talking to his cat when she did something wrong. Reminded him of when Patches would sit on the counter and drop cups while looking directly at him.

“Fiiiine. Text George, would you?” Darryl whined and have Dream a quick hug before running off with a quiet “Goodnight.” 

Dream chuckled and got to work. In half an hour he sent George a plane ticket for a flight to France that took off in two days, time along with a ‘I’m sorry, I panicked. But I’ll see you soon? *^* I will explain everything, I promise... love you.’ He wanted to wait for a reply, but... it was pretty late and he got scared and, to his shame he fell asleep on the couch. With his phone buzzing with messages from George...

Dream would only see it in the morning. 

———————————————————

Darryl took a while to take the pill, force himself to get into the bed and look away from sleeping Zak. He got his alone time before that: sat outside with his coffee and thought about everything. He wanted to be with Zak, to hold him, to kiss him and love him. He just needed time, and he was so grateful that Zak was willing to wait for him.

So when he finished his coffee and went to bed, pushing the desire to curl up around Zak away, he suddenly decided to be brave and take a small step forward for once. So he took Zak’s hand and opened his eyes in the Lavender Fields. 

Zak was sitting the grass and making purple flower crowns and looking at the sea. He looked as great as ever, more peaceful, more content and so beautiful.

Darryl took a deep breath, allowing the smell of the flowers and the sea to calm him and sat down next to his inamorato: 

“Hi.” 

“Hi, Darryl.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love my fluff, shush T^T but i promise there is more angst ahead.... 
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> P.S. if there are any mistakes, that is because i was editing by myself and... yeaaaaah...
> 
> Either way, go check out Papercranes!!! OwO


	7. Chapter 7. Common Sense.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing on with the fluff... and the angst...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/b7SnbKS4YAQ This is the song Bad is singing. Pretend like he wrote it... which changed lyrics

Zak woke up the next morning, feeling very happy. He remembered everything from that vivid colourful dream. He and Darryl just sat there and talked the night away. He had also discovered that Darryl looked very good with flower crowns on. Sadly, he could not take a picture of his soulmate in a dream. That meant that they would just go there in real life though.

Zak shifted and yawned quietly turning on his side to look at his sleepy inamorato, who was still not fully awake. He could not contain an affectionate giggle as he brushed the hair away from Darryl's eyes and sighed contently.

"Darl... Darl, wake up!" He purred his fingertips floating above Darryl's cheek, but not touching.

"Mmmm... nooo.... sleepy.." Darryl stretched out opening one eye slightly and then closing it again. Zak wanted to say something else but then Darryl turned over and was practically laying on top of Zak. His head was on Zak's shoulder and one arm was draped around his torso. "You're warm..."

"Uuuh. Darryl?' Zak was petrified not knowing what to do. He was convinced that Darryl would not hug him like this in his fully conscious state. "What are-Why-um... Are you okay with what you are doing?"

He suddenly felt Darryl giggle against his neck, his breath tickling Zak's skin. He got even more confused when the older man propped himself up on his elbow and smile.

"Good morning." He whispered and leaned in, his lips brushing Zak's cheek for just a split second. Then he was off the bed and disappearing in the bathroom.

Zak sat their astonished as he brought his hand up to where Darryl kissed him and stared at the door. "Good... morning..."

He smiled even wider when he heard the quiet mischievous giggles behind the door of the bathroom. They reminded him of the time, when he was stuck in a hole, and Darryl would place water for him to swim up, and remove it right before he could actually do it. He was giggling just like that.

"God, i love him so much..." he breathed out falling back into the pillows with a stupid grin on his lips. Darryl was in a good mood, so Zak was happy.

He stayed on the bed daydreaming, and didn't even notice when Darryl came out of the bathroom, fully dressed.

"Zak? Did you fall back asleep?"

"Mmm, no." He opened his eyes and yawned, smiling at the man who was standing in front of him. "You look as great as usual!... that's not too much is it?"

Darryl blushed very faintly and shook his head, sitting down on the bed next to Zak. "No, you're good, don't worry... we do need to talk about the safeword and the boundaries though. We can do it now or after breakfast?"

"Now. If you are ready that is." Zak set up and yawned again, shaking off the last of the lavender scent that somehow stayed with both of after waking up. "So. What are you comfortable with?"

"Um... well it changes, but I think this," Darryl slowly put his hand on Zak's and looked at him warmly. "Is okay."

He chuckled softly watching as Zak melted and stared back at him, not being able to say anything.

"What I was saying, I think, for now, I will be okay with holding hands, I will hug and cuddle you when I can and... complements are okay, just don't overwhelm me, please." Zak nodded along with everything, letting Darryl speak. "Oh, and ask before you do something, okay?

"Okay." All of this was reasonable. Zak was just a little upset because he wanted attention and cuddles all the time. But he could wait.

"What about you?"

"Um... I am okay with anything, really. It's just, after this past month I sometimes get a bit touch starved..." Zak shivered, remembering how unfocused he got and how he just desperately craved to be craved. He was brought out of his thoughts by Darryl's thumb rubbing circles in the palm of his hand. "I will tell you when that happens."

"Oh, Zak, I'm so-"

"No! Don't you dare apologize!" Zak moved so quickly, he almost fell of the bed. "I did that to myself and I learned my lesson! And it was not your fault at all!"

"Zak-"

"Nope! Nope! Not listening to you apologize! Lalala!" He made a funny face, making Darryl laugh and cover Zak's mouth with his hand.

"I wasn't apologizing, you muffin. I was trying to tell you to stop bringing yourself down. I forgave you. All you need to do now, is forgive yourself." He moved his hand to Zak's cheek, watching as his tanned skin turned pink under his palm. "And I'll be here to help with that, as long as you are here while I get used to affection... can the safeword be muffins by the way?"

"What? No! Honey, you use that word all the time!" He giggled pressing to Darryl's hand. "I promise. I'll try to stop blaming myself, even though it's my fault- no, let me finish! I didn't phrase that correctly: I will learn to let go of my guilt."

"Oooh, yeah I didn't think about that..." Darryl smiled and pulled away his hand, putting on Zak's leg instead. "Sound good to me. As long as you are happy."

"Mhmm. Any other ideas?" Zak was glowing and purring from all the attention. They weren't even big touched but the kiss when they just woke up and Darryl's warm hand on his knee were enough to make him giddy and drunk on happiness. "With you I'm always happy."

"Uuh... how about... when one of us says red velvet shortcake, it's a stop sign? Aww, you make me... very happy too."

"How the fuck do you two manage to have two conversations at once?" Vincent was leaning on the doorway watching the pair with a find expression on his face.

"Vincent! Language!"

"How long have you been standing there...?" Zak pouted as Darryl pulled his hand away as soon as he heard Vincent's voice.

"Not too long. Just enough to hear you have a weird conversation and a super wholesome conversation at once." Vincent shook his head and smiled. "I'm glad you guys are communicating and figuring it out though. What I really came in here to ask is... what do you two want for breakfast?"

"I can make breakfast!" Darryl perked up, looking excited. Vincent noticed how he looked better, it seemed that he actually got some sleep. He didn't look like a ghost anymore, still pretty pale but his eyes were more lively than before.

"I will eat whatever Darryl makes... also, Dar, yes to the red velvet shortcake!" Zak giggled quietly when Darryl smiled fondly and petted his hair before going to the kitchen.

"You feeling okay?" Vincent stayed as Zak got up heading to the bathroom.

"Yeah. Yeah, actually... much better."

"Good. I'm happy for you."

They smiled at each other, and then Vincent went to check on Clay.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

Clay shifted and looked up at him with a lost expression on his face.

"I don't know... George is coming today. I am happy, panicking and... yeah." He sighed and rubbed his face. He looked tired and scared and Vincent didn't know how to help.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"You know what? Yes, actually. Can you do something to distract me and stop me thinking about him?"

Vincent stopped dead in his tracks searching for something. He had no ideas... unless...?

"Uh, well... my soulmates birthday is today actually and I wanted to draw something for them and I need practice..." he looked quite sheepish and a little embarrassed. He didn't think he was not that good at art, but he had gotten at least mediocre in the last few years. Plus! Drawing on skin was harder than drawing on paper! "So maybe I could practice on you and then copy the drawing onto myself?"

"Oooh! Yes! Just not on my face please!" Dream sat up, somehow relived and excited. George being constantly on his mind was... painful. At least right now.

"I'll do it on your arm cause that's where I'll do it on me. Do you really think either me or my soulmate would want face paint?" He chuckled, getting up to get his paints. "Although, sometimes I wake up with a face full of makeup, but we don't talk about that..."

Dream laughed at the last part, making Vincent quite proud of himself.

"I got Henna specially for this." He mumbled sitting down next to Dream and starting to draw. "It's going to be quite complex. Hold still, okay?"

Vincent leaned in pressing on the tube, starting with a simple straight line on Clay's wrist. He needed something easy that he would be able to repeat on himself.

The floor of the paint was dark black. In the light you could see it shimmered with a little golden undertone. When dry the paint usually gets lighter and lighter as the days pass, but in the beginning it will stay a dark rich black.

After the straight line, he careful added a lot of small curls on the inner side and three arrows on the outer.

"I should do this on Zak and Darryl too..." he mumbled concentrating as hard as he could as he added dots that were decreasing in size on the center arrow. "I bet they'd love matching designs."

"They sure would." Dream chuckled, fascinated by the process of drawing. He could hear Darryl hum in the kitchen while he was cooking. He was really happy that his friend was getting better.

He watched as Vincent added dots above the line too and then slid two more lines under the first one. He was really quiet when concentrating, must have really wanted to please his soulmate. So practice was key. Especially since if he messes up with Henna, it wouldn't be erasable.

He drew on the already familiar curls under the second line and added dots under them. Then drawing another line and... this was the harder part. He drew a small semi circle, filling it in with curls and dots. Then added a bigger one around it, putting swirls on the outside, and then adding a flower like pattern around the whole thing.

"More swirls..." Vincent started narrating without even noticing as he out a cascade of swirls on the outside of the petal form. "Ouuui..."

He than drew a small crown on the tip of the swirls connecting the two sides. After that, of course, he added the dots. He decided to repeat the procedure, planting the crowns on the swirls all around the shape, ultimately creating a half sun.

He created another ring of petals around it adding a trident right in the middle.

"Okay, I just need to add a few forms on the fingers, than let it dry, wash it off and then we are done!" Vincent looked hot at Dream with the biggest smile. It looked great.

He finished with rings around his fingers a few dots and twirls added.

Kk

"Aaand! Done! What do you think?" He put away the Henna and stared at Clay, practically shaking with excitement.

"It's really good! Your soulmate is lucky!" Clay chuckled, waiting for the paint to dry.

"Great! Thank you!" He giggled and carefully wiped off the top layer, leaving the imprint on. "I'll start on my hand now!... you go eat. Darryl will make a fuss either way, buuut you can escape it if you it!"

Clay hummed in agreement and entered the kitchen to find Darryl setting the table, while swatting at Zak's hands. The younger man was trying to steal the toast while staring at his soulmate with the stupidest, most lovestruck smile ever.

Still, Clay could not help but glare at Zak. He had hurt Darryl so much and Clay could not believe that he was forgiven so easily. Darryl was too kind, too forgiving, too good for this world. He would never hurt anyone who hurt him... he would, however, destroy anyone who hurts his friends.

"Oooh, did Vinny draw that?" Darryl smiled at Clay, placing the food in front of him. Dream sat next to Zak which meant Darryl would be forced to sit across him.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool, isn't it?" Clay ignored the way Zak huffed and glared at him. This was for the best. He needed to protect Darryl.

"Yes, very much so!" Darryl didn't seem to mind sitting across from his soulmate. "Zak, lay off the sugar please. We don't want another sugar rush, don't we?"

"We don't." Zak giggled, eyeing the jam sadly. "I'll just take the butter, and the sour cream then."

"You can have the sweets some time later, don't worry... so Dream. What's the drawing for?"

"Ha?" Clay was munching on the toast quietly, getting lost in his thoughts about George again. "Vincent needed practice. It's a present for his soulmate, and he wanted it to be perfect."

"Ooh, that's so nice of him!" Darryl smiled, while Zak pouted. He wanted to do something nice for his beloved too. But he had no ideas. Well, he had one... but he wanted to wait with it a little. It was almost bloom season...

"Yeah, I guess... are you guys coming with us to pick up George from the airport?" Dream was so nervous. He left George on read, not answering any of his messages, only said that he'll be in the airport to pick him up. And he ignored the dms from Sapnap.

"Uuuh... I think we'll just wait here, if that's okay. I wanted to show Zak the song I wrote..." Darryl blushed and rubbed his neck awkwardly. It was a very cute song that he wrote on the first night of them together in his dream. They did not lucid dream on that night so Zak did not know about it yet.

"That's totally fine. A6d and I will just go alo-"

"You wrote a song?!" Zak almost chocked on his toast, jumping up.

"Yeah, I can play guitar. I brought It with me, so I can show you the song." Darryl smiled as Zak wolfed down his toast, and quickly finished the tea.

"Please! Let's go! I'm ready! Oh, um... after you finish your tea, of course..." he was so excited. And a little guilty because he did not have a song prepared. And he couldn't sing. But he could try to... crate a rhythm for him? On the drums? Yeah, he definitely needed better ideas.

Clay chuckled finishing his food, and getting up. "I'm going to go. Vincent must have finished, and George lands in an hour. You two have fun! Zak. If you hurt Darryl, I will break your legs. Bye!"

Clay sighed and stopped in front of the mirror, nervously fixing his hair. He looked fine. He really did. But he was still scared of George not liking him. There were so many things that could go wrong....

"You ready, Dream?"

"Uuuh... no. Yes. I don't know..." Clay sighed his eyes glancing over Vincent's arm where an identical to his drawing was proudly revealed for everyone to see. "Ready as I'll ever be..."

———————————————————

When Darryl brought out his guitar to Vincent's backyard, Zak was mesmerized.

One. It was a very pretty instrument. Made from dark red wood with a black stem and bright shimmering strings.

Two. His soulmate was very handsome. His auburn hair that has grown quite a lot since he shaved it, was shining in the sun, his green eyes were warm like hot amber, and the way his fingers graced along the side of the guitar....

"Okay so... it's called Common sense." Zak just nodded unable to produce any words right now.

Then Darryl started playing...

His fingers flew along the strings, weaving a light silver melody that was as delicate, elegant, and complex as a spiderweb. And then he started to sing:

"Common sense tells me: kiss the boy goodbye," Zak's eyes widened and his heartbeat fastened in fear. This was not... what he was expecting. Darryl must have noticed, but he did not stop continuing to play and sing. "Common sense tells me: leave it all behind."

Darryl's voice was clear and light, shimmering, and charming it's way around the backyard. Zak has been in live with it before, he was even more in love with it now. But the lyrics were scaring the hell out of him.

"Commmon sense tells me: the boy's not worth my time." At that moment Darryl looked up at Zak and smiled at him gently. "But common sense ain't common when you come to mind."

Zak sucked in a breath, slowly moving slower. He didn't want to shatter this amazing moment and stop the honey filled voice and the silver ring of the guitar.

"Common sense told me he was not worthwhile. Common sense said don't go the extra mile." Darryl stammered first a second turning significantly redder, and looking at Zak almost shyly. "Common sense said go back and reconcile..."

He pauses for a second playing the same chord over and over again before continuing. This song was very sappy, okay? But if was all true.

"But common sense forgot about his smile."

They both blushed and Zak covered his mouth with a sweater paw trying to hide his smile. But than decided, since Darryl is singing about it, might as well show it. Besides Darryl's face when he lowered the sweater paw was priceless and Zak was kicking himself for not filming.

"Second chances are thought of to be weak." Darryl got quieter, but his eyes never left Zak. "Second chances in volumes do they speak."

"Second chances aren't given usually," Zak understood what this part of the song was about. And he was going to appreciate the hell out of this second chance. Treat Darryl right and love him like he deserved. "But a second chance is all I really need."

Zak almost chocked. Did he hear that correctly? Darryl did not need a second chance! He was the one who gave that second chance! Oh, they were so talking about this later!

"I think I l-love you..." Darryl stuttered on the word 'love'. It was his first time actually saying, or well singing, it out-loud. Before he sang it in the dream to not really Zak. But it was not the same. "I want to love you..."

"Please let me love you!" However, he grew more and more confident as he sang the word again and again. "I wish to show you..."

He paused again picking his words carefully, as his fingers brushed along the strings."I wish to show you... how to love."

After there was a small interval and Darryl look back at the guitar, after almost missing a few notes. He got enchanted by Zak's sparkling eyes and could not look away, thus all the mistakes. He could see so much light in those dark eyes. He could see whole sun and the endless stars and...

"Common sense tells me kiss the boy goodbye," it was time for a small reprise. Darryl won't sure it was necessary anymore, but he wanted to finish. "Common sense tells me leave it all behind. Common sense says the boy's not worth my time. But common sense ain't common when you come to mind."

He out the guitar on the grass next to him finishing the song a capella. "No, common sense ain't common when you come to mind... so what do you think?"

There was silence and then a small sniffle was heard, that caused Darryl to spring up and place his hands on Zak's shoulders.

"Zak? Zak! Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to upset you, I-"

"No! No! I loved it! I just-" Zak placed his hands on top of Darryl's and stared with small droplets of tears in the corners of his eyes. "I'm so damn happy right now."

"Language, you muffin." Darryl whispered smiling widely. "I'm glad."

"I love you too, by the way." Zak mumbled and pulled away, shifted carefully. He really wanted to cling to Darryl right now. "Can I...?"

"Can you what?"

"Can I... lean on you?" God, this felt awkward. But also amazing. Because they were going to make this relationship work! And it's going to be a healthy one!

"Thank you for asking." Darryl leaned on a tree and opened his arms. "Yes. Yes, you can. Come here."

Zak collapses into Darryl's hands, tucking himself into his soulmates side and putting his head on his chest.

"Is this okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, it's good."

"Tell me if it gets too much?" Zak looked guilty again. He was a very tactile person, needing a lot of physical contact and cuddles. He felt a bit guilty that Darryl had to tolerate that when he was not fully ready for it... on the other hand, he said, it was okay. But, still...

"Tell me if it's gets too much. Please."

"I will." Darryl gingerly started to pet Zak's hair. "Do you want to... do the stories thingy?"

"Oooh! Yes! I'll start!" Zak giggled, pressing as close as he could. "Once upon a time, there was a little duckie..."

———————————————————

To say that George was nervous was to say nothing. He was terrified, confused and lost.

Dream did not answer any of his messages only saying that he'll be at the airport to pick him up. Idiot.

George really wished he could say 'His Idiot' but he couldn't. Because Clay and him were not soulmates.

George would not be able to play with his hair, and hold him and Clay would never kiss him of get to trace his tattoos.... that is if he ever got to see those tattoos.

That is if Dream still wants to be friends with George when they meet up. George knew he was a lot. That he could be annoying and tiring and difficult.

He really should stop, because people are looking at him weirdly. He kept fidgeting in his sit, staring out the window and drumming his fingers on the arm of the dusty airplane chair.

George didn't like it. It was hard to breathe. Probably because of the anxiety, the dust, and the mask... but it's better to wear a mask and suffer through it than get corona.

He watched as the plane passed the La Manche. God, Dream was so stupid. He could have just taken the train, really... guess this was faster in the end.

Rouen. Clouds swam by and the different monotones of what George was told was green were seen below. It would be funny if they weren't, but George had trouble imagining the color so, it didn't matter either way.

Paris. From above the city looked like a snowflake. With all the main roads leading to the grand center, in which the Arch of Triumph stood proudly. The Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées. He'd been here before but this time it felt somehow different. He couldn't wait to get off the stupid plane hug Dream... and also go shopping.

He kinda took one small rucksack with primal needs things. So, he really needed clothes... and preferably a hoodie because he was in a t-shirt and literally freezing. Fuck the AC. This is why England doesn't have it. He usually did not think that in the summer, but right now he did.

Charles de Gaulle. Finally.

George ran out of the airplane and the security. Still getting weird looks because he kept shaking and fidgeting from excitement and fear.

Getting through security was easy, and he didn't have to wait for his luggage, but he had to stand in the middle of the terminal clinging to his rucksack, looking completely lost.

"I really did not think this through, did I...?" George shivered, the ac was on full blow since it was the beginning of June and very hot in France.

"George!" He got tackled into a hug from behind, almost falling over. "George! I am so so sorry! And so glad you're here! Why are your hands so cold?"

"Dream-" George chocked our tagging on Clay's hands. "I can't breath- let me-"

"Oh, sorry!" Dream let go and George turned around to meet the eyes of a sheepish looking young man who was awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "Hi."

"Hi, Dream." George allowed himself a small smile. He was glad to finally meet him. Finally, see him. He was gorgeous, and George really wanted to have a bite of that- God dammit! Those thought again!

Either way. George wanted a proper explanation first. And they can go from there.

"Your hands were cold, um... here." George silently watched as Dream took off his hoodie and dropped it into George's hands. "I hope that helps."

His voice was quiet and shy, George nodded as thank you focusing more on the drawing that was on Dreams left hand. No way...

"Merde! Mon Dieu! You ran half the airport as soon as you saw him!" Vincent suddenly appeared next then panting heavily and George felt like getting back on the stupid plane, and going back to London. "Hi, George! How are you?"

On Vincent's left hand there was the exact same drawing as on Clay's. Beautiful and amazing, but...

George wanted to wash it off Clay's hand. He wanted to see the freckles and not paint.

Clay didn't seem to notice that George was strangely quiet.

George watched, heart swelling up in jealousy, as Clay laughed and nudged  
Vincent, saying something about the French man being slow.

It seems that he and Clay were not meant to be after all...

Oh.

—————————————————————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada~
> 
> I am so sorry the updates are taking longer, I started college last week and have tried to write after the lessons. But I usually just kinda pass out as soon as I come back home 😅
> 
> The perks of being an actress! 
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!


	8. Chapter 8. Tsunami.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsunami of emotions....
> 
> Winter, jelly Gogy is specifically for you!
> 
> Please do not kill me for what i did with Dream though~

The ride to Vincent’s house was awkward. At least for George. He was emotionally exhausted and didn’t know what to do. Clay didn’t officially apologize for not telling him he was in France, and they didn’t talk about it... but George did not want to come in between Clay and his soulmate, so he stayed silent. Or well, tried to.

He felt the, as he was told, green jealousy flower bloom inside of his heart, spreading its venomous vines all over his body. He could not handle the sweet chatter of the two, so he leaned on the car door pretending to be tired. He was tired in a way. Tired of Dream gashing about Vincent...

“-and actually drew this with Henna! Isn’t that cool?” George actually did not hear half of the monologue that Clay just had.

“Stop it, Dream! I’m not that good!” Ugh. Couldn’t they just refrain from flirting in front of him?

“Yeah, you are! George! What do you think?”

The Brit looked up, blinking away his wallowing in despair. He was not able to get rid of the jealousy though. Maybe that’s why he sounded so bitter.

“Ah, yes. It looks marvelous.” Fuck. Dream looked at him with confusion laced in those bright eyes. They must be bright, even though he could not tell. George could not help it, he always sounded overly posh and sour when he was jealous.

“Okay...?” Vincent frowned gripping the steering wheel of his car. He could sense the mild hostility coming from George and did not understand what exactly was wrong. “How was your flight by the way?”

“Oh, it was great. Thank you, for asking.” Dream received a short angry glare, feeling it crawl up his back like an ugly spider. What the hell?! What did he do?!

George couldn’t blame Vincent for this, so there was no point in being rude to him.... if he did sound mean towards the French man, he did not truly mean it. He was mad at Clay and Vincent just got in the way.

“Any plans while you’re here?”

George scoffed coldly turning his angry gaze to glare at his own reflection in the car door. “I’ll have to make new ones. All the ones that I had before just got canceled.”

George was conflicted. He wanted to leave. He desperately wanted to go back to his apartment in London and pretend like nothing ever happened. But at the same time he dreaded leaving. He just got here, he just met Dream, for God’s sake! And even when Dream was acting like an absolute moron, he was still George’s best friend.... plus George was not exactly behaving either right now.

Dream cleared his throat looking at George questionably but his friend did not grace with even a glance, continuing to stare out of the window. Clay decided not to push.

“So have you been having fun with Vincent, Clay?” George asked after 5 minutes in silence.

“I guess...?” Clay stammered, he had absolutely no idea what to do in this situation. “We- um... we were mostly just taking care of Darryl...”

George nodded, folding his hands on his chest and crossing his legs. “Did anything fun together?”

“I mean... yeah?” What was this about? George could not be tired, the flight was not that long. Unless he didn’t sleep the night before. Which was more likely. “We went to the city a few times, made dinner toge-“

“Aha, interesting. Please spare me the details.” George hissed out unfolding his hands and turning away again. He did not want to know what couple cute things the two did... at the same time he did! Because he wanted to do that with Clay! He will never able to though so that’s why he decided it was better not to know. Vincent sighed very loudly. He had sensed there was some misunderstanding between the two, but he did not want to intervene.

Clay whimpered feeling like a puppy who angered its owner. “But you aske-“

“How’s Darryl doing?” George interrupted not letting Clay finished and ignoring his most adorable puppy eyes. He focused on Vincent excepting him to reply.

“He is good.... a lot better. Since he and Zak made up.” They were almost back home,l and Vincent could not be happier. He was tired of this scary heavy atmosphere and the sexual tension between George and Clay.

“Really now?” George was smiling, but his smile and voice held so much venom in it that even Vincent shivered, Clay on the other hand could help but gulp and start to sweat. “I was not informed about this development.”

“George-“ Clay tried to intervene seeing as George found another reason to be mad at him for. But was gracefully ignored... at least Vincent sent him a sympathetic look.

“But really...” suddenly, just like that, George’s tone and timbre were warm and affectionate. The sudden change made both Vincent and Clay shiver. How on earth did he manage to switch this quickly?! “I’m glad. Darryl deserves to be happy more than anyone I know.”

“Yeah... yeah, he does...” Vincent agreed, glancing at now a very quiet and upset Clay and then to George, who returned to staring at the passing fields of France.

They were out of Paris by now and had about 15 minutes left to drive. The car fell into silence and the French man could not decide if he should speak up or turn on the radio or let this continue. It was really not his place to intervene, but he would oh so happily get out of this car and go hide with Zak and Darryl. He could talk about this to Darryl and Darryl could set Clay’s brains to finally start working. Yeah, that sounded like a plan...

Clay shifted hating the silence and the fact that George was aggressively ignoring him. He really should talk to him. He just didn’t know how to raise the subject and it was better to let George cool down a bit...

Dream sighed. George’s anger was spreading and frustrating him as well.

He had to make sure to not put away the talk and not wait for too long.

———————————————————

When they arrived Vincent parked the car and ran to the house as fast as he could. He had absolutely no desire to stay in that environment. He found Darryl in the kitchen cooking lunch for all of them while Zak was in the garden talking on the phone presumably to Zelkham.

“Hey, Vin! What’s up?” Darryl smiled at him and Vincent felt instantly better.

“Oh, god, this is a disaster.” Vincent sat down and banged his head on the counter repeatedly.

“Vinny, stop! You’re hurting yourself!” Darryl threw a kitchen towel on the table just as Vincent was lowering his head again, so instead of the hard cold tiles Vincent hit the fluffy towel. “What happened?”

“George is angry, Clay is dumb and I had to survive an entire car ride in that horrible atmosphere.” Vincent groaned as Darryl gingerly petted his hair.

“Aww, you poor thing... That is still not a reason to repeatedly bang your head on the table...” Darryl noticed carefully, returning to making lunch. “Just let them be for now. It would be best if they figure it out on their own. We will only intervene if it gets worse.”

“It can get worse?” Vincent shrieked scaring Darryl who clicked his tongue and chose not to reply. At that moment George walked into the kitchen having left his one rucksack in the living room and sent Clay one short cold glare.

“Bad!”

“George! Hi!” Bad smiled and gave George a short hug. Darryl true to what he said decided not to stick his nose into their business. “You hungry?”

“A bit.” George sat down next to Vincent raising his eyebrows at the sight of the French man lying with his face in the towel.

“Great! I’m almost done!” Darryl smiled brightly turning to the stove and humming ‘Common sense’ quietly under his breath.

Everything will be alright.

———————————————————

Everything was not alright.

George hated him for sure. Dream was angry. He was angry at George. Angry at the world. And angry at himself.

Which is why he went outside and punched a wall, startling Zak who was sitting under the tree in front of the house.

“Jacob? Wait a sec please. Dream just punched a wall and I need to go and find out what’s up...” Zak put the phone down and carefully stepped towards Clay, secretly fearing for his kneecaps. “Hey... you okay? Punching walls is not a good idea, you know?”

“Shut up.” Clay hissed out trying to control himself. Zak was really playing on the last of his nerves and self-control right now.

“Clay, I get it. I messed up too. But if you just talk to him, I’m sure it will be fi-“

“I said shut up!” Clay whipped around, pushed Zak away making the smaller one stumble back and glared in blind anger. “You do not get to talk. You hurt Darryl way more than can imagine and you honestly do not deserve a second chance in my eyes!”

Zak has stepped away, looking at Clay with big eyes. He really did not need this right now...

“I... I’m-“

“I messed up, yeah, sure I know!” Clay growled, not thinking about what he was saying anymore. “But at least I am not the one who pretending to be my best friends soulmate on stream! I did not fuck up the life of my soulmate to the point of him not sleeping for a month! But I am the one who took care of him for that whole month, while you sat comfortably in Florida’s hiding away from all of you problems!”

“I wasn’t-“ Zak had shrunk down to the floor trying to find the right words to defend himself. Dream was right after all. “I-“

“You do not deserve forgiveness from him! You do not deserve to be his soulmate either! You-“

“Clayton.” Dream’s words got stuck in his throat, and he felt shivers ran down his spine. “Shut your mouth right now.”

“Darryl, I-“

“No.” Darryl’s voice was just as cold as when he first talked to Zak about the troll. When he scolded him. “You do not have the right to interfere with my relationship!”

Darryl was practically fuming, his hands were shaking slightly as he helped Zak who was crying by now off the ground. “You absolutely do not get to tell my soulmate what he did right and wrong especially after I forgave him!”

Zak sniffled looking down and rubbing his eyes furiously as his soulmate wrapped his hands around his shoulders protectively. “I do not give a fuck about how close of a friend you are to me at the moment because you are in no position to take your anger out on my boyfriend, my soulmate!”

“Come on, baby...” Darryl whispered tenderly and sighed lifting his beloved up bridal style since Zak was sobbing and seemed to have frozen up.

Snap.

Darryl glared over his shoulder, his voice going back to being colder than the icebergs of Antarctica. “When you are done being a fucking coward, Clayton. Do yourself a favor and talk to George.”

Dream watched as Darryl headed back inside stopping in the doorway. “And don’t you dare come close to Zak. Or I swear I to God, I will make you regret it.”

With that Darryl disappeared in the doorway, leaving a stunned Clay who was pulling on his hair by now.

Oh, he had done himself over now for sure.

———————————————————

“How did you know?” Zak sniffed as Darryl lowered him onto the bed. “We are not connected by emotions or thoughts, how did you...?”

“Zak.” Darryl smiled sadly, running his hand through his soulmate’s hair. “You never hanged up on Jacob...”

Zak stared up at him as more tears cascades from his eyes. “Why am so stupid?! Fuuuuck! Why am I such a mess?!”

“You’re not.” Darryl purred quietly, looming over the boy who hid his face in his knees hiccuping. He didn’t even say language, because Zak was upset and because it felt hypocritical to say it at the moment. “You’re not a mess and you are definitely not stupid. I’m glad that you didn’t hang up, because Jacob got me, and I was there for you when you needed me.”

Darryl hesitated for a moment before pressed a soft kiss to Zak’s hair. “Do you want to nap, baby? Sleep will definitely help...”

“No, I-“ Zak sighed shaking his head and finally looking up. He had not replied to what Darryl said about him not being messed up. It was time to talk about something really important. “I wanted to talk about something...”

“Okay? Wait a sec though.” Darryl got up, quickly getting him a glass of water. “Drink, hydration is important. Especially since you’re crying.”

“Thank you...” Zak slowly drank the whole glass setting it on the bedside table and mentioned for Darryl to sit back down.

“Okay, so... I’m ready.” Zak sighed and slowly sat up, leaning on the back of the bed. What Clay said really hit him... he knew Dream didn’t mean it. They were friends after all. And he knew that Clay although angry at Zak for hurting Darryl was just taking out his frustration at him. But it still hurt. “The fans were obviously not exactly happy with the prank.”

“Oh no...” Darryl frowned, realizing where this conversation is going to go and slowly taking Zak’s hand to comfort him.

“I got... like a lot of hate, everywhere, mostly on Twitter though. Now, it doesn’t apply to everyone but... some people are telling me off, telling me how horrible I am and how I ruin everything-“

“So that’s where you got that stupid idea.” Darryl growled, his eyes darkening. No one was allowed to undermine his beloved like that. Even if he messed up.

“Let me finish. Please. I would not be able to continue if I stop now...” Zak pleaded, squeezing Darryl’s hand to calm him. “They were.... well are... upset that I ruined the ship and demanding an apology not only to you but to the public for pulling such a horrible prank because... well you know... I apologized, I- I don’t know if you saw but I recorded an apology and posted something on twitter... wasn’t my best recording.”

Zak sounded defeated and Darryl was boiling with fury once again.

“I get it. I messed up. I messed up badly. And I beat myself over it without the hate... But they sent me-“ Zak chocked and stammered, starting to tear up. “D-death threats and tell me to d-die?”

Darryl growled again and pulled Zak close, in a protective manner. He wanted to say something but Zak went on:

“I just don’t understand... do I deserve it?” He sniffled wrapping his hands around Darryl. “Was my mess up bad enough for me to deserve death threats?”

Darryl shook his head furiously but stayed silent allowing Zak to go on. But then Zak looked up at Darryl with his eyes full of tears and whispered. “I didn’t do enough-“

“Do you still think that?” Darryl asked softly, brushing his thumbs over Zak’s tear stained cheeks. He was breaking all of his boundaries right now. But Zak was more important than boundaries. He simply could not stay quiet when Zak was undermining himself.

“What?”

“Do you still think you didn’t do enough?”

“I... guess?” Zak swallowed and breathed shakily pressing to Darryl’s warm hands.

“You did more than enough, Zak. I forgave you.” Darryl kept whispering comfortingly. “Just like Clay had no right to say all of that.... nonsense to you, the fans had no right to meddle and send hate about such a private personal matter! Especially after you apologized.”

“You think so?” Zak rubbed his eyes and sighed as they settled into bed.

“I know so.” They lied besides each other in silence, their pinkies intervened. Zak had stopped crying, for the most part. He just felt tired. Like he wanted to escape somewhere with Darryl. Somewhere where they would not have to worry about the hate, or the pain. Somewhere when they can figure themselves out without any complications.

“Are you crying?” Zak suddenly whispered feeling the slight quiver in Darryl’s breathing. Darryl raised his free hand to his cheek looking surprised.

“Ha? I guess I am...” Darryl looked very confused, while Zak just looked sad. He rubbed his eyes trying to stop but instead only cried harder. Zak did not know what to do, his hand lingered just above Darryl’s cheek not touching him yet. He wanted permission. Darryl needed his space and Zak realized that.

“Why am I crying? This is stupid...” Darryl sobbed, his breath starting to speed up. He looked away, ashamed. This was not supposed to be happening. He did not have anything to cry about. He was angry, sure. Clay has no right to barge in on his relationship. The fans had no right either. But why was he crying?

“Hey, Dar? Question... did you ever cry over...?” Zak didn’t need to finish the sentence for Darryl to know what he was talking about.

Zak was surprised he even thought of that. Guess, this was something intuitive that the soulmate connection brought.

“No. I didn’t. I was in shock and just... forced myself not to? If that makes sense.” Zak let out a short breath feeling guilty again. He had brought so much pain to his soulmate, to his best friend. Clay was right... He was horrible. He had to make it better. “And after that... I just went into autopilot and kept letting all my problems out by smoking, knife throwing and music...”

Darryl was actually bawling his eyes out right now and this was not good. Zak was no good with calming people down. He could not exactly be Zuko and say ‘That’s rough, buddy.’ Especially not to his soulmate. So he did the only thing he knew to do to calm someone down. He leaned back into the pillows and opened his arms.

“Darl. Comere.” He expected Darryl to run. To shake his head, maybe smile that knowing and a little condescending smile of his, get up and leave. But instead Darryl let out a chocked sob and collapsed into Zak’s embrace. Zak pressed the taller man really close, rubbing circles in his back and trying to soothe him when he flinched every few seconds because of the contact or when he shuddered letting out his silent pain and anger.

“Let it out all out...” he needed a pet name like right now. God! Brain! Work, please! “Angel. My angel.”

Darryl didn’t react, to the pet name, focusing on trying to breathe instead. And Zak just let Darryl cry into his chest, kissing his hair and whispering sweet and calming words into his ears.

After a while Darryl’s crying gradually stopped and turned into small hiccups and shuddered breaths. Their breathing matched now. Neither let go. They finally got the comfort and contact of each other and letting go was not part of the plan.

“Hey, Zak?”

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say... I can’t say it yet.”

“It’s fine. I’m not expecting you to say it. It’s okay.”

“I want to... but I can’t. Like, I was thinking... I hate seeing my little muffin upset, that’s partly why I was crying. Mostly because I bottled everything up but still, it was part of the reason... and the thought that kept circling in my mind is... I am serious about this, about us... but I can’t... say the phrase.”

“That is fine, my angel.” Now that Darryl could register what Zak was calling him, he turned dark red. “I know that you’re serious, you really don’t have to-

“I want to tell you... how I feel though.”

“You really don’t have to push your-“

“It’s not about having someone to wake up with.” Zak shut up as Darryl let him and say up. This was a weird way to start a confession. “Although it’s a nice advantage... It’s about being able to trust someone, understanding, that he won’t betray you. To know that among the chaos of the words you say, he would be able to see your feelings and see your pain, and that he will pull you close and not let go. It’s about feeling support and care and giving support and care back. And it’s not important, if he is lying next to you or is half-way across the world, you just know - I am important to him! It’s all about reliability and trust in not waking away when things get weird or scary.... I want to have that with you, Zak.”

Zak stared at his beloved, speechless. “I... wow...that was so much... so much more than an I love you.”

Zak sat up as well and grabbed Darryl’s hands. “Run away with me.”

“What?” Darryl let out a breathy chuckle staring at Zak in confusion.

“Let’s go to Provence!” Zak exclaimed squeezing Darryl’s hand. “Lets explore Paris! Or take Vinny and go to Disney land and that other amusement park which I do not remember the name of! Just... run away with me please...”

Darryl chuckled again, his eyes lighting up with a warm fire as he smiled and pressed his forehead to Zak’s.

“Okay. I’ll run away with you. To the end of the world if you wish...” he sighed happily, his eyes half closed as he brought Zak’s hand up to press a soft kiss to his knuckles. “Let’s run away together.”

———————————————————

“I suppose we should talk.” George leaned on the doorway of the living room where Clay was sitting in a curled up position.

Dream took a deep breath and after a few moments straightened up, looking at George. “Yeah... yeah, we should.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii! 
> 
> Sooo this chapter is full of emotions... that is why its called Tsunami! 
> 
> Sorry for making Clay such a jerk, but i promise he will get better!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


	9. Finding Color of Fireworks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making up, travelling and...
> 
> TW. Spice warning for the DNF part of the chapter. Nothing too bad... I think

**************  
@SaintOfGames

Hi, everyone! So this is going to be a serious talk regarding the situation with Skeppy. First of all, I want to say that I am fine. Secondly, Zak is also alright, and we are figuring everything out together.  
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However, that is not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to express my disappointment in all of you. Yes, Zak messed up. But he regrets it. He apologized. To you. And to me. Sending death threats, making him feel not good enough is the worst thing you could have possibly done.  
|  
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Thank you for your concern, guys, but you took things way too far. I am 25 years old, I do not need to be babied. I am an adult and I can handle myself perfectly. And I do not appreciate someone telling my best friend to die because of one mistake. No matter how upset I seemed on that stream. Zak did not deserve that.  
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Thank you to everyone who did not get themselves involved. Everyone who did: I am very disappointed and angry. No matter how worried you were for me, it is a private personal matter that you had no right to be involved in.  
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Zak and I will return to creating content eventually. We might answer some light random questions soon... to talk about to situation more and to just hang out. The question will be monitored by the Idots.  
Thank you for listening.  
********  
———————————————————————

“Great.” George shifted, and glared up at Clay. He knew this was irrational, and he, really, was happy for Dream. But it was a bitter happiness, laced with desire and love, an insane amount of jealousy and offence at the fact that Clay did not tell him he was just over La Manche or the fact that he found his soulmates. They were best friends after all. “What do you have to say?”

“Look.” Dream was desperately trying not to shout because he did not want to cause a scene. But by the way George narrowed his eyes, Clay could tell his wish would not be granted. “I am sorry.”

“For?”

“For-“ Oh, this was definitely not going the way Dream wanted it to go. “For everything...”

“That does not tell me anything, Clay.” George tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, a cold smile gracing his lips. “What are you sorry for, Clay? Is it for shouting at Zak and blaming him for everything? Or is it for something else?”

“Okay, no, I did overstep there, but he deserved a reality che-“

“I think he had plenty of that already. The kid messed and he fixed it. By himself. Give him some credit.” Dream flinched when George scoffed and stepped forward.

“Now you’re just attacking me.”

“Oh, am I? I am sorry, I didn’t realize you thought that was not on purpose.” George sang in a very cheerful but yet somehow gloomy voice.

“You-“

“I am still waiting for something, Clay.”

“Why are you so mad at me, George? You are snapping at me and snapping at Vincent! What the hell is going on?”

“Do you want a list?!” George hissed out. He needed to calm down. He had starting pacing around the room, hugging himself trying to find his composure. But it was very hard since Dream was there annoying the fuck out of him.

“You know what? Yes! Please, give me a list of everything that I have done wrong?” Clay was so tired of this. He wanted to fix things with George but the Brit has built a wall around himself and was not letting him in. So he snapped as well.

“Well for starters... you never apologised for not telling me you were in France! I get it, you met your soulmate and you were busy with Darryl! But you told Sapnap why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Met my soul-what?! No, i don’t even wanna think about it.” Dream stopped in front of George towering over him. Only the smaller one did not look intimidated one bit. “I said sorry in the airport and I just apologized. You are being a bitch for no reason.”

“Shut up.”

“No, don’t tell me to shut up! You are being a bitch to me, to Vin and to-“

“Oh, so there are nicknames now...”

“What the fuck are you talking about? You are being unreasonable as fuck and bitchy and-“

“You know what?! I should have never taken that stupid plane in the first place. Because you clearly do not see what I am talking about!”

“Look, George, I am sorry for not telling yo-“

“Oh, so now you say it!”

“Just tell me what the fuck is it that you want from me!” Dream shouted, trying to catch his breath. This was all getting too much. Especially since he knew George was right, he should have talked about it more. But it just was... hard. And now George looked hurt. However, his eyes shimmered with an unknown dark desire.

“What I want?”

“Yes! George, I have no idea what you want!”

“Really now?”

“For fucks sake! Stop saying that!” Dream screamed. He couldn’t stand that line. George said it in the car. And now Dream hated with a passion of a burning star.

“I bet you want to kiss me so bad.” George hissed, like a venomous cobra, suddenly smirking.

“I literally cannot- Wait, wha-“

Dream did not get to finish his sentence. Dream did not get to finish his sentence because he got slammed into a wall.

He screwed his eyes shut, not expecting George to be strong enough to do that. George was small and fragile looking, but now he was pressing against Dream with one leg on the wall between Clay’s legs and pressing his wrists to the wall securely.

“Since you are not shutting up, I will shut you up myself. What I want?” George growled, getting closer, their lips a centimeter apart. “I want you, you bloody idiot!”

George kissed him.

Dream imagined kissing George a million times. But this was nothing compared to his imagination.

One. In his mind Dream would not be the one pressed to a wall. In his imagination Dream was not the one getting flustered out of his mind when he felt George’s warm lips move against his.

Two. This was so much better than imagination. It took Dream a second to kiss back. But there was an explosion of colour, a firework, going off in his mind from the very beginning.

Three. God, George was demanding. It made Dream feel like he was floating and melting and... George was gently biting on his lower lip and scraping his fangs over it and Dream was loosing his mind. He knew George was older, but he said he didn’t have a girlfriend before, so how the hell did he know what to do to drive Dream crazy?

Then George squeezing his wrists softly and asking for permission to deepen the kiss and their tongues intervene and... shit. Whoa, he did not expect that.

“Tongue piercing?” Dream pulls away gasping for air. But before his eyes flatter fully open, and he gets the chance to catch his breath, George answers:

“Yes. I’ll explain later. Don’t lose focus, I want more.” He leaned in to kiss him again but then stopped and whispered right against his lips. “You’re... okay with this... right?”

“Yes, God, yes!” Dream answered blinking slowly, and leaned down kissing George.

Dream was having a hard time catching up with what was happening. They were arguing a second ago... and now they were making out. George tasted like apples, had a tongue piercing, and he wanted more and his dark eyes were so beautiful, he didn’t know the name of the colour, but they were so incredibly beautiful.... wait a second.

Dream chose the worst moment to gasp. Right after George moved from gentle slow bites to licking the fresh bites. Seriously, how is he so good at this?!

But the gasp immediately stopped George, and he pulled away looking at the taller one confused and concerned.

“What’s wrong?! Are you okay?! Did I hurt you?!” Now it was George’s time to get shocked. Because Dream just started laughing making George let go of his wrists in confusion, only to be enveloped into a huge hug.

“Ah, George. I love you so much, you know that?” He managed to breathe out in between wheezes. He was also slowly sinking to the floor pulling George down with him, so now George was settled between Clay’s legs.

He was waiting for George to realise that he could see colour.

“I don’t... I don’t get... Oooooh...” he stared at Clay’s face, eyes wide in wonder and his hand flew up to caress his cheek. Both immediately shivered from the pleasant rush of energy running through them. Like small tickles. “But I thought... Vincent was your soulmate? With the hand drawing thingy...”

“Where on earth did you get that idea?!”

“You two hands the same drawing on your hands when I arrived...?”

“Oooooh... Oh my god! George! You are so dumb! That. Yeah, Vincent was just messing around and practicing on me. We’re not soulmates.” Dream suddenly understood why George was upset the whole time of being here. Besides the not telling him where he was part.

“Good.”

“Is that why you were throwing hissy fits all the time?”

“...do you want to be back against the wall, Clay?”

“George.” Clay stroked George’s shoulders, going down and gripping his elbows, enjoying the way his soulmate’s pale cheeks turned pink. “I would love to go back against the wall, but we need to talk about this.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” George sighed and nudged Dream on the chest with his head, like a cat.

“I’m sorry for not telling you I was in France. I was... I thought it was not the right time for the first meeting and was insecure about showing my face. I should have trusted you more, I’m sorry.” Dream stroked George’s cheek gingerly, his eyes were serious, so was his voice. He wanted to do this right. Just like Darryl and Zak did. “And I’m sorry for misleading you into believing that Vincent and I are soulmates... and for not apologizing earlier and causing a scene.”

“The scene and the jealousy were also my fault. I’m sorry for being... bitchy and throwing hissy fits.” George mumbled averting his eyes, Clay was amazed at how fast he swapped from being dominant to shy and soft.

“Eh. I kinda deserved that...” Clay shrugged, kissing George’s temple and pressing him closer. Never going to let go now that he knew it was Fate. “So um... soulmates, am I right?”

When George laughed, it was the most beautiful thing Clay had ever seen. It was like the mushroom rain falling sleepily from the low clouds. The puddles from this rain are always warm. It does not ring, but whispers something of his own, lulling, and fumbles slightly in the bushes, as if touching with a soft paw now one leaf, then another. George’s smile was the mushroom rain.

“Yeah. Soulmates.” George smiled at him and reached for another kiss, happy that Dream gave him what he wanted.

“George?” Dream whispered against his lips, circling the piercing with his tongue. “Explain this unexpected but gorgeous accessory please?”

“Oh, um... I got it during uni. You probably remember when I lied ability loosing my voice for like... two months?” George snickered tilting his head. “Still don’t know how you believe that, but it was because I had a lisp and was learning how to talk properly again.”

Dream started wheezing and George joined in because... God, he has missed this laugh.

“I would have loved to see you with a lisp... bet it was cute.”

“It wasn’t. Mum said it was but I do not believe her.” George rolled his eyes and looked around taking in the colors. While it did change a bit, it was still pretty dull. Only one color stood out the most. It was pretty and deep, George really liked it.

“Aww...” Dream sighed, and dropped the subject joining in discovering the colors. “Everything is so radiant, isn’t it?”

“Huh? No, it’s not... it’s pretty dull to me.”

“What?” There were a few beats of silence before Dream exclaimed. “Oh, my god! George! You are actually colorblind!”

“What?! Oh, that is so unfair! I couldn’t see anything but black and white my whole life and now I can only see like... a few more shades! That is so unfair!” George huffed and pouted. “But your eyes are still very pretty...”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” George hummed, while Dream gently pressed on his lower lip making him open his mouth. In that position it was not possible not to speak with a lisp. “What are you doing?”

“I wanna see the piercing...” Clay mumbled, blushing lightly. George was just too cute... and really hot. Especially after the way he smirked at him, gently bit his fingers, forcing him to move his hand and then stuck out his tongue. Dream stares at the small silver ball in the middle of George’s tongue. “George...”

“Mmm?”

“Stop being such a tease!” Dream hissed covering his blushing face with his hand.

George smiled and Dream could not help but smile back... he wants to hug George, hug him and say "I love you" in all languages of the world. George giggled teasingly and stuck out the tip of his tongue.

“George!” He is so flustered - although, it would seem there is no way it could get worse. He was beetroot red. Besides his cheeks, his neck and the back of his hands were covered with red spots. At the moment, George’s heart honestly blooms and sings; he infinitely loved his soulmate. He cannot hold back the raging waves inside of happiness and delight, which mix with something like a cry and!.. “You are most definitely mad, George.”

“Well yeah. That’s why I am your soulmate.” George snickered and reached for Clay’s face with, ran his fingers along the jaw line with a light movement and stoped on his chin, barely touching his lips with his thumb. Without taking your eyes off, so that the flutter of his eyelashes sparkled in the dim light. In fact, there is now a very noticeable contrast between his slight blush and George’s jade-pale skin and his plum lips.

Dream however had other plans. He wanted to explore the piercing. He still cannot help but shiver softly as George wraps his lips around the tip of his finger. It’s not sexual. Just soft and loving, as if George was waiting for the initiative, that Clay’s finger would push into his mouth once, twice, slowly, visibly... and Dream would cover his eyes in embarrassment, of course, but he would not be able to remove his hand. The piercing remained cold despite the heat of George’s mouth. It slipped between his fingers along with the tongue and Clay thought that it is letting out minor electric shocks to Clay’s freckled the skin. That made Dream’s body go numb and languid heat spread all over...

“Georgie, can you...” His voice is trembling. Clay can be courageous Minecraft and in real world all he wants...until George is smirking at him, showing off his piercing and when Clay has his fingers in his mouth. “Can you open your mouth?”

George let go and smirked, watching as Dream grimaced in disgust wiping his fingers in Vincent’s couch:

“Are you really that interested?”

“Very much so.”

George smiled and shifted, pulling one leg under him, making himself comfortable, and reached to move the slightly curled bangs from Dream’s face. His hair is unruly. It’s really pretty. Clay reached for a kiss - gently presses his lips to George’s and closes his eyes. It's so addicting - to feel Dream. To think about how he is surprised and happy at the slightest initiative, to feel a slight tremor of his hands and the quiet hums he makes...

George easily creased his lips, rubbed his nose against Clay’s cheek, and he cannot hold back a smile.

“George!” George no longer hold back his laughter and buried his face somewhere in Dream’s shoulder, happy that his soulmate soon joined him. “You’re so dumb, George.”

“And you like it.”

“I do, I do...” This time Dream was the one to lean down and initiate the kiss. This time it was just soft and gentle, but it was long, so by the end of it they both were out of breath. “Hey, Georgie?”

“Mm?”

“Wanna go Google colors?”

———————————————-

Vincent had no idea what he signed up for when he agreed to take Darryl and Zak to Disney Land. With a stop in Paris, of course. Darryl said something about... romantic bounding or something like that?

However, they both were children. Absolute children. With their ruined sleep schedules, they overslept and did not want to get up at 8 am. So Vincent headed to their room to drag them out of bed... had to make a stop to take a photo of George and Dream passed out cuddling on the couch. Dream’s laptop was on the floor and it had one of those weird videos which are nothing but slowly changing colors on.

“Ugh.” Vincent groaned quietly and closed the laptop. “George is drooling on my couch... ew...”

He sighed and got a plaid throwing it over the couple, then heading to wake the other pair. When he entered the bedroom, he could not help but squeal from the cuteness. Zak, to no surprise was sprawled out across the bed, Darryl had curled up by him and his face was hidden in Zak’s side.

“Awwww! Aren’t you too just the cutest?” Vincent cooed, taking a photo. He was so happy that they were touching again. “I would actually love to leave you here, but we have a lot planned, so.... WAKE UP, FUCKERS!”

With that Vincent happily jumped on the pair, scaring the hell out of them. Zak screamed and fell off the bed, while Darryl silently hit the Frenchman in the stomach and pressed him down in a headlock.

“AAAH! Ow, ow, OW! BAD!” Zak stared at the two trying to catch his breath. That really scared him. “BAD, ITS ME! LET GO! How the fuck are you so strong?!”

Zak finally woke up a bit more and started laughing like crazy, watching Darryl blinked still don’t understanding what was going on, thus leaving Vincent in his compromised position.

“Darl-“ Zak breathed out between laughs as he stood up and put his hand on Darryl’s tense shoulder. “Darl, my angel, you okay? It’s just Vincent.”

“Vincent?”

“Yeah, Vincent.” Zak smiled watching as Darryl tilted his head trying to process everything. “Let him go maybe? He’s dying?”

“Are you okay?” Darryl whispered staring at Zak intensely. He was half asleep, especially since he took the pill later than usual. All he knew was that someone practically attacked them and Zak screamed. Screamed in fear. So the only natural reaction to that was to restrain whatever had scared him.

“What? Yes, Darryl, I’m fine-“

“I AM NOT THOUGH! I AM IN FUCKING PAIN!”

“Oh.” Darryl finally caught up and chuckled awkwardly releasing his hold. Vincent gasped for air very dramatically and groaned in pain. “Language, Vinny.”

“Language?! I almost died and you languaged me?! How on Earth are you so strong?”

“Well, you know... the knives, the tomahawks, the guns and the katana helped...”

“Oh, shut up, you- dangerous man...” Vincent groaned again and moved his shoulder. “I think you dislocated something.”

“Oh, did I? Here, I’ll fix it-”

“No, no, NOOOOOAAAAH- fuck!” Zak was really trying not to laugh but... when Darryl grabbed Vincent’s arm and did something that made a really loud crack he fell on the floor laughing again.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry- just...”

“Language.”

Vincent fell into the pillows and whined. “Yeah, it’s definitely in the correct place now... I am gonna tell my soulmate!”

“What’s he gonna do about it?” Zak chuckled as Darryl helped him up. “Hey, question. Why did you wake us up at 8 am?!”

“Because we have a fucking train to Paris to catch!”

“Language. I’m not going anywhere without coffee.” Darryl deadpanned, heading into the bathroom. It was incredibly hard for him to function without coffee.

“We can get coffee and breakfast on the way, let’s go!”

“Traditional French breakfast?” Zak asked, taking the folded by Darryl clothes out of their luggage and waiting for Darryl to leave the bathroom, so he can get ready.

“Yeah, sure, whatever, hurry up!”

“Okay, okay, sheesh! Wait for us in the living room!” Zak hissed as Darryl opened the door to the bathroom allowing him to slip in.

“Fine. I’ll go... watch George drool on my couch.” Vincent grumbled, leaving the room. Once he left a smile creeped up to his face. “Idiots.” That smile however quickly fell as he moved his shoulder. “Ah! Cramp! Fuck you, Bad!”

—————————————-

They finally made it on the train to Paris. Half an hour later so Vincent had to change their tickets but it was fine.

Darryl was still very much so half asleep, so he napped on Zak’s shoulder the whole way to Paris.

“What the hell are two doing in your dream world that makes him so tired?” Vincent smirked and froze as Darryl shifted, opened one eye and mumbled:

“Language...” before going back to his nap.

“Wha-“ Zak blushed really darkly and covered his face with his hand. “Vincent! That has nothing to do with how tired we are! They are still dreams and we are still sleeping!”

“Sure, sure....”

“No, Vin, really! We just... talk and make flower crowns and sometimes Darryl makes stuff appear.” Zak started to move his hands excitedly, as the man sleeping on his shoulder whined and shifted again, to press closer. “Like once he made two horses appear and took me horse riding! It was awesome!”

“Oh, he learned how to lucid dream?”

“That’s... what the whole dreamwalking connection is based on.” Zak mumbled chuckled softly and running his hand through Darryl’s hair, as they were almost in Paris.

“Mm... are we there yet?” Darryl mumbled blinking sleepily and looking up at Zak with a soft smile.

“Almost there, my angel. As I was saying, Darl is better at making things in dreams because I cannot focus and create weird things...”

“No, you’re good.” Darryl set up and stretched. “You can imagine things that are absolutely incredible... just next time don’t think of man eating plants. Please.”

“I promise.” Zak giggled, glancing at a petrified Vincent. “We are here! Look! It’s the Eiffel Tower!”

Darryl laughed taking his and Zak’s bag, despite his protest and the three of them stepped off the train.

“Where to first?” Vincent asked leading them out of the train station to the street of Paris.

“Breakfast!”

“Coffee!”

Vincent laughed and nodded, Googling the way to his favorite cafe because he could not remember it fully. It’s been a while since he came to Paris.

“Darryl! You need to eat in the morning! Only coffee is unhealthy!”

“Cookie, you can’t cook.” Darryl reminded his soulmate softly, smiling at him. They left their bags in the lockers at the station before heading to the cafe.

“...that’s besides the point. Let’s just go!”

Paris. Hot air saturated with the aromas of flowers, the smells of stone warmed up during the day and the slightly blooming Seine. Vincent chatted on about getting cocktails that make you giggle silly from the best cafes, although there are a lot of them in Paris. They turned up along the way...

Every now and then Zak looked into Darryl’s face, as if trying to understand what he was thinking... and Darryl just smiled mysteriously, because he always liked it when he started to get a little angry and grumble.

"Awwww.... you too are just... Mona Lisa and the Starry night. Wake up, you fuckers! Did you swallow your tongues?" Vincent exclaimed, taking a photo. “I love you guys, but I’m leaving you behind, if you are just going to silently stare into each other’s eyes the whole time!”

The two laughed loudly, Darryl hugged Zak and lifted him, spinning him around, as the smaller one squeal happily.

“Language by the way!”

“We’re sorry!” Zak was blushing and smiling very happily so, of course, Vincent could not stay mad. “It’s just the romantic atmosphere...”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll take my soulmate here one day...” Vincent giggled, pulling Darryl along as Zak decides not to walk. “You are right. The city breathes with romance.”

Paris, with its streets, carried romance and beautiful music evoking love. Oh, this beautiful Paris, the city of France, an elegant, romantic, modern capital. A refuge for lovers, a paradise for them. People come there, in one of the most attractive cities on earth, to get in touch with the magic of beautiful flowering streets, admire the grace of medieval cathedrals, and plunge into the romance of the old quarters. To the charm of this city, in which the imprint of antiquity is harmoniously combined with the fresh splendor of modernity, the atmosphere of which is saturated with the spirit of romance novels, and no one remains indifferent.

“It’s great, that the station is not far from the Eiffel Tower.” Vincent commented as Darryl finally let Zak down and allowed him to hold his hand instead. It seems the talk has really worked. “Although, of course, it’s better to see it in the evening. It lights up with thousands of electric bulbs and spotlights at the very top of its lighthouse.”

“But I don’t wanna wait!” Zak whined letting go off and Darryl and twirling around himself in front of his friends.

“And that is why we are going now... after the food that is.” Darryl chuckled taking a photo of his soulmate. He was just... too beautiful.

Summer was a great time of the year to visit Paris. There was no sweltering heat in June, and all sights are open longer than usual, and walks in green parks deliver a real pleasure. The weather was rather warm, the sun played between the green leaves of the trees. A light refreshing breeze was blowing, and it was like a salvation. Darryl glanced at Zak’s hair, it was slightly tousled and gleamed in the bright sun. He giggled and pulled his soulmate close, to run his hand through this silky hair and press a soft kiss to his temple, making Zak melt.

“You are so affectionate today... not that I mind.” Zak whispered, as Vincent rolled his eyes and opened the door to the very cute boutique cafe.

“Mm, well... we are running away, aren’t we?” Darryl nuzzled into Zak’s hair before letting go and dipping the smaller man as if in a dance. “And it’s Paris! I’m feeling romantic!”

“Yes, I can see that...” Zak giggled, his hands on Darryl’s shoulders and eyes wide.

“Guys. We are not in a musical and I’m not holding the door for you forever.” Vincent tried to intervene but was gracefully ignored.

“I live only with you, I breathe only with you. When you are not by my side, I miss and worry about you, if everything is all right with you. When you are near, the world becomes bright and beautiful for me. You, like the sun, illuminate everything around with your gaze.” Darryl whispered into Zak’s ear, sending shivers down his spine. He was beetroot red and wide-eyed because... what the heck?! Who gave Darryl the right to be so romantic?!

“I hate you both.” Vincent stated and went inside the cafe, choosing a table.

Zak stuttered, not able to find the right words to express how much love he felt right now. Darryl chuckled pulling him back up. “You’re so cute, cookie.”

“Stop!” Zak squealed again, pressing his hands to Darryl’s mouth. “It’s like you’re making me flustered on purpose!... oh, stop smirking! I can feel it!”

“Let’s go eat, Zak. Vincent is glaring at us through the window.” Darryl pried Zak’s hands off and lead him inside the cafe.

“Croissants with vanilla cream?!” Zak stared at Darryl with puppy eyes watching as his soulmate slowly turned red and shook his head.

“Only one. We don’t want another sugar rush.” Darryl laughed, sitting down at the table after helping Zak.

“Deal! Croissant! Croissant! Croissant!”

—————

After breakfast, Zak thankfully did not eat too many sweets to get a sugar rush and Darryl got his coffee so everyone was happy, Vincent took them on a tour around the city.

They went to Champs Elysees, taking lots of silly photos and buying a lot of junk. Then they looked at the Notre Dam de Paris from afar, Vincent kept talking about how beautiful it used to be in there. And then they walked alongside Seine from Notre Dam to the Eiffel Tower, which, as Vincent found out, turned out to be not the best decision cause Zak got easily tired and Darryl got hot. Vincent easily fixed both of those problems... by pushing the soulmates into a fountain.

“Vincent!” Zak shouted, catching his sleeve and pulling him in as well. Well that backfired quick.

“We are all wet now!” Darryl hissed rubbing his glasses and glaring in Vincent’s general direction.

“Might as well take the most of it!” Zak laughed and tackled his French friend, who just got up, with a war cry.

“No! Go back to making ogle eyes at each other!” Vincent screamed taking a big gulp of fountain water. He could lie all he wanted, but they had lots of fun, spending at least half an hour, screaming and playing in the water until Darryl decided enough and pulled them out to dry off. He also bought them ice cream. Which was a great bonus.

Vincent wanted to make them take the stairs to climb the Eiffel Tower but Zak started crying when he heard that suggestion, the French man still could not figure out if it was real or fake crying, and Darryl looked positively murderous, so they just took the lift.

The view was amazing. The green park laying right under the tower, the maze of alleys and streets beneath and of course the main artery of the city - Seine.

“I’m so glad we came here... Thanks, Vinny.” Zak mumbled nudging his French friend. He was twirling a rose in his hand, that Darryl got him. It was very romantic even though the two of them much preferred lavender.

“No problem. Today was really fun!” Vincent chuckled, taking more photos. Of the view and his friends.

“It was.” Darryl agreed, his hand around Zak’s shoulders. “Let’s just hope we don’t get sick from swimming in the fountain.”

“Okay- you are going to hold that against me forever when you are the one who got us ice cream when we were drying off!”

“...fair enough!” Darryl mumbled and sighed, resting his head on top of Zak’s. “You’re the perfect height for this, Zak...”

“Nooo, Darl!” Zak whined, his hands flying up to cover his smile. But he did not have a hoodie on, so no sweater paws could save him.

“Yeah, Cookie?”

“You two are so sickeningly sweet...” Vincent fake gaged and stepped a meter away, as Zak laughed.

“When’s our train by the way?” Zak decided not to ask whatever he wanted to ask and turned to the Frenchman instead.

“Uuuh... in 20 minutes actually! We need to hurry!”

“Vincent, you need to work on your punctuality!” Darryl pointed out, following Vincent to the elevator.

“Oh, shut up you-“

—————————————

The train ride took 40 minutes, and they were at the happiest place on earth. Zak could not stop running around and screaming:

“Disney!” At the top of his lungs.

“This is your fault, you know.” Vincent said, following the hyperactive supernova.

“How is it my fault?” Darryl huffed, reaching for Zak’s hand and failing to catch him. He was carrying their bags again, after all. Zak did not have time to snatch it and now he was too excited.

“You’re the one who gave him ice cream.”

“And you’re the one who didn’t stop me.... by the way. Question...”

Vincent raised his eyebrows at the guilty tone, and tilted his head in confusion:

“Yeah?”

“Did we tell George and Dream that we are leaving...”

“OH, FUCK-“

“LANGUAGE! Vincent!” Darryl hit the French man on the head and hissed. “We are in Disneyland, there are kids around!”

“Oooh, I forgot about tha-“

“Zak! Cookie, no! Get down from the street lamp!” Darryl came back, carrying Zak who was giggling like crazy:

“I’m so happy!”

“I know you are. But let’s not climb on street lamps, okay?... Vin, what were we talking about?”

“I swore and you were unhappy.” Vincent stretched out, getting out their prepaid tickets. “I think...”

“Yeah, don’t do that again. Or this mornings accident is going to happen again!”

“Yes, sir, I promise no more repeats!”

“Very well then.” Darryl placed Zak down and firmly grabbed his hand. “And you, no matter how excited you are, cutie, please don’t run away.”

“Yes, Darl! I promise!” Zak giggled, squeezing his hand. “Are you okay though? We have been touching a lot today, and I don’t want you to get overwhelmed.”

“I’m fine, Zak. Really. Yesterday really made me feel a lot better...”

“I’m glad.” Zak whispered, looking up with a big smile.

“Me too.”

“GUYS! I have the tickets! Please keep up, or you are sleeping on the streets!” Vincent shouted watching as the couple laughed and ran to him. “I hate that I agreed to third wheel for you.”

“Don’t lie. You love it.” Zak stuck his tongue out pressing to Darryl’s shoulder and prying one of the bags out of his hands.

“Ugh. Yeah, I do. Come on!”

————————————————

It was pretty late, so they decided not to go anywhere for the evening. Instead they watched the fireworks from the balcony of Zak and Darryl’s room.

Although, Darryl kept watching his soulmate’s enthusiastic face and struggling to restrain a smile. Wide open brown eyes almost glittered, and a wide, sincere smile played on his lips.

A couple of minutes, and the first charge soared into the sky, bursting into myriads of sparkling sparks that scattered across the all-consuming darkness and disappear into it. Subsequent charges were also not long in coming. The black canvas of the night sky was painted with a spray of lights glowing in different shades. The rumble of an almost deafening roar of exploding firecrackers filled the square, echoing loudly from the walls of palaces and the rollercoasters.

Zak watched with fascination as the sky lit by fireworks, lightly nestling on the body of his beloved, who kept his hand on his shoulder. At one point, turning to face Darryl, the young man slightly raised himself, reaching for the older’s cheek to place a small kiss on it.

“Is that okay?” He whispered and received a quiet chuckle and soft:

“Yeah, yeah, that’s okay.” As Darryl rubbed curled into his shoulder.

Vincent chuckled, watching the couple and quietly left the room to call the other couple that they left behind at the house. To be fair... they wanted to give them space. And it was Vincent’s Skephalo time!

“Hey, Darl?”

“Mm?”

“Can we go downstairs to the pool?”

“Of course, we can.” They rushed downstairs, Zak forgot his keycard but Darryl had his. But all that did not matter because...

They were at the empty open pool which reflected the fireworks perfectly.

Zak cuffed his jeans and stepped into the shallow part of the pool. Or in other words the kiddie pool because he did not want to get fully wet again.

The dark iris sky spread under his feet. Diverged in waves, from the small splashes that Darryl made for him, making him giggle, Grey stars bursted out with fires, slowly - as if frost covered the water.

Zak was absolutely fascinated by each new fire, trying to remember this moment. Burn it into his memory, to lock them, so he could plunge into this perfect day, in the smallest details and dissolve in it.

He exhaled softly. His eyelashes twitched as he glanced up at his smiling soulmate.

Then he looked back down, noticing the diverging circles on the water again- a wisteria firework petal exploded in the sky, remaining in Zak’s consciousness in an amaranth splash.

Zak smiled, extending his hands towards Darryl. The air chimed as Darryl obeyed and stepped closer. He froze to the right of Zak and admired him for a second - just a moment.

If Zak paints pictures in his mind, Darryl takes photos. Fast, with the recklessness of a master, but in such a way that every color stays alive. Like no one else is able to see. The way only he feels.

“This is perfect.” Darryl murmured, catching Zak’s hand. For once, Zak was silent, he was overwhelmed with affection and love and emotion so Darryl cannot not hold back a gentle smile. He gently tipped Zak’s head up towards the sky. Nudging the younger with a light touch of the shoulder “Watch with me.”

Through the eyes of a child, Zak peered, raising his chin higher, waiting, all tensed up. And Darryl stared affectionately, as if kissing the soft features with his gaze. Zak’s is tangled in the wind...

And Darryl smiled, intertwining his fingers with Zak’s. It may not be as much touching as he did throughout the day, but Darryl’s knew that Zak would get the meaning of the gesture.

Zak saw yet another bright flash, tearing apart the night with wild fire. The sky was ablaze, and Zak is with Darryl. It lit up in the lights of the park, exploded with azalea sparks, crumbles with amber.

The fireworks were dazzlingly bright, but still were lost in Zak’s feelings. He inhaled deeply, as if before diving. And furtively looked at Darryl.

He saw gleams of colored lights in his eyes - it seems that another firework exploded. And Darryl’s face lights up with almost childish joy, copying Zak’s.

All for him. God, he loves Darryl so much.

Darryl’s lips curled gently, and Zak can feel his smile is a hundred times more beautiful this evening. It burned brighter than any fireworks in the heart.

Darryl felt Zak’s gaze. He turned slowly and peered into his soulmate’s face, illuminated by the lights.

Darryl bent down, moved his hand slightly - Zak moved forward, clinging like a cat. He closed his eyes and...

Their hearts were beating so loudly that you could not hear the fireworks.

And a fire bloomed on their lips.

——————————————————————-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this took so long, everyone *^* 
> 
> But I got there! Eventually!
> 
> I wanted their actual adventures to be in this chapter but decided to move them to the next one ^~^
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!~ :3 
> 
> Winter, are you happy now?

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand first chapter up!  
> Prepare for pain everyone :3
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Sofyzin1)
> 
> Thank you papercranes for editing ❤️  
> Go read Breathing Room
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! ^~^


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